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The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmAs A des taux de rAduction '^ffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA. 11 est filmA A partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. r errata d to It le pelure, pon A n 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 ' % • ' \ . A MEMOIR or THE LIFE AND CONQUESTS or ART MAO MUREOGH, KING OP LEINSTER, FROM A.D. 1377 TO A.D. Ull. WITH SOMB NOTICES OF THE LEINSTER WARS OF THE 14th CENTURY, BY THOMAS FAECY>^'GEE, Author of "The Irish Writers of the 17th Century." Sittani €Vitiott, -lift I ttCc "He affirmed that he was the rightful King of Ireland, and that he would never cease from war and the defence of his country until his death ; and said that the wish to deprive him of it by conquest was unlawful."— Crefon-Jfeirica? Chronicle, Archceologia, vol. XX. Loudon, 1824. JAMES DUFFY AND SONS, 14 AND 15 Wellington Quay. i ' ' DUBLIN : €1 t 62 GREAT STRAND STREET. 1^ TO JOHN MITCHEL, ESQ., ^i- '%w AUTHOR OP THE LIFE OF HUGH O^NEILL, THE BEST IRISH BIOGRAPHY IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED, BY ^t Jittt|or. St. Patrick's Day, 1847. CONTENTS. •i To THB RbADIR • • • • \x Introduction - • • m xiii Introduction to Second Edition m xx\ CHAPTER I. I The Dynasty of Mac Murrogh — Edward III. pays them an annual tribute — The Accession and early reign of Art Oge, sumamed Kavanagh • . 1 CHAPTER II. Richard, King of England, sails for Ireland with a great Army — The March from Waterford to Dublin — ^The Truce of Ballygorry — Art invited to Dublin 16 CHAPTER III. Richard's Policy — Gloucester's Mission — The Ulster Princes — Mac Murrogh entrapped — His Escape — The Accolade — Arrival of the Deputation of English Bi- shops concerning the "Wickliffites and Lollards — Richard returns into England — The English in that age • - - • - • 30 CHAPTER IV. Mortimer — The Wicklow Clans — ^The Second Escape of King Art — He takes Carlow— Battle of Kells, and Death of Mortimer — King Richard resolves on a Second Expedition into Ireland — The State of Leinster, a.d. 1399 • • - • 38 %P 0^\:-:auam ■ni'wyMifiw CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Creton's Colloquy— Richard's Return to Ireland — Con- dition of Waterford— Marchto Kilkenny — Sir Jenicho d' Artois — Campaign in Catherlough— Knighthood of Prince Hal, young Gloucester and young Salisbury — Malachy MacMurrogh*8 Submission— King Art falls back on Wicklow — Distress and Mutiny among Richard's men — A Scene on the Sea-shore — The Con- ference at Glenart — A Price set on King Art's Head — Duke Aumerle arrives at .Dublin — Richard's Death and Character • - • • 61 CHAPTER VI. Lieutenancy of Lord Thomas of Lancaster — Of Sir John Stanley — Battle of Bray — The Prior of Conal — Art reconquers Wexford — Sir Stephen Scroope — Ormond, Lord Deputy — His Death — Kildare elected Lord Jus- tice, and imprisoned — Murrogh O'Connor — Death of Scroope — Lord Thomas of Lancaster returns to Ire- land as Lord Lieutenant - - • 67 CHAPTER VIT. The Battle of Kilmainham — Condition of Lord Thomas — He returns to England — Prior Butler Deputy — Murrogh O'Connor in Meath—Prince Art in Wex- ford — His Death— Escape of the Ulster Princes from Dublin Castle— Sir John Stanley Deputy — The Poet's Curse— Battle of Kilkee ... 76 CHAPTER VIII. The Lieutenancy of Lord Talbot— The Wars of the Eng- lish in Ireland among themselves — Art MacMurrogh in Wexford— Murrogh O'Connor in Meath— The Wars of the Irish among themselves— Death of Art Mac- Murrogh— His Character— An Elegy— Conclusion : Some account of the Posterity of Art MacMurrogh, iurnamed Kavanagh ... 87 CONTENTS. vU APPENDIX. I.— .Succession of the Danish Vi-King8 of Dublin from the 9th to the 12th Century . - - 127 II.— The Entrenchment of Ross, a.d. 1265 III The Statute of Kilkenny, a.d. 1367 129 148 IV.— Oath of Office taken by the Provost of Dublin, A.D. 1388 .... • 165 V. — History of Leighlin Bridge 158 YI. — Relics of the Kavanaghs, in the Museum of Trinity College ----- 164 VII. — Letter from Sir Thomas More to Cardinal Wol- sey, concerning the towns of New Ross and Water- ford -...-- 166 VIII. — Charter granted by King James I. to the inha- bitants of Oarlow - - - . 168 IX.— "The Pale" under Henry the Fourth's Lieuten- ants ------ 179 X. — A List of the Chief Governors of the English Co- lony in Ireland, under Edward II. and III., Richard II., and Henry IV., V., and VI., from a.i>. 1307 to A.D. 1460 184 XI. — Art Mao Murrogh — Annals of the Four Mas- ters ------ 196 XII. — Extracts from Sweetman's Kalendar of State Papers, 1252—1284 - - . - 197 XIII Narrative of Henry Cryst^de, related to Sir John Froissart • ■ - - 198 s?. tW' 1^ TO THE READER. (i •'■f When Master Cryst^de was narrating to Sir John Froissart* some of the incidents set down in the following pages, the chivalrous canon, warming with the progress of the tale, wished that he had been present, to witness the wars he heard described. Indeed, whether we consider the eminence of the actors on either side, the length of the strug- gle, or the important consequences that flowed from it in Ireland, and in England, we will find it equally worthy of an historian's attention. In the estimation of his biographer. Art Mac- Murrogh is the Irish hero of the middle ages : yet, he does not pretend to consider this history complete. But if, hereafter, Irish historic stu- dents should discover farther facts concerning him, they will at least know where to find the owner, if they are conscientious enough to feel bound to make restitution. It may be an additional incentive to restitution that Art has been treated most scurvily by the English historians, from Hume to Lingard, of ^ * See Appendix. TO THB READER. ' whom it is hard to say which is the most igno- rant of the facts, or the most illiberal in their judgment. Ignorance of the actions of men, even remotely connected with their subject, is censurable in historians; but when, unknowing facts, they dogmatically lay down suppositions in their place, making up in assurance what they fall shoi't of in research, there is no condemna- tion too heavy for their offence. History is only valuable for its truth, its equity, and its retribu- tions. To expect the records of the past to create statesmen or states is expecting too much. Can the Pyramids beget new Pharaohs, or the sculptured pillars of Persepolis raise up a king- dom in the desert 1 But history is the grand Court of Posterity. To it the calumniated in life, and the hunted unto death, appeal. The historian is recorder of the calm decision of the Judges of this upper world. If his head hatches untruth, or his heart dictates slander, or his hand scrolls falsehood, woe be to him. There are some, even in Ireland, it is proba- ble, who will not think this dead man of four centuries worth the chronicling ; but if he lived uprightly in an age of easy consciences — if he fought bravely in a cause indubitably good — if he has been neglected — it is not yet too late to justify him. To him it cannot matter ; but to the virtues he exemplified, to the localities his presence consecrated, to the descendants of the a I') TO THE READER. XI U ' ; race he preserved, it matters much. Intrinsically, too, these events deserve our attention. The battles of Kells and Kilmainham were not less important to Ireland than Bannockburn to Scot- land, or Shrewsbury to England ; nor the march from Waterford to Dublin of less interest than the march from Harfieur to Calais. In reading over annals of broils and discord, such as ours at some stages appear, the heart yearns for a hero, before whose figure, fixed on consistent principle as on granite, it can bow down, and do homage. May we not presume to say, lo 1 such a man is here. »•> I am informed by the Publisher that this volume is to close " the Library of Ireland " — an announcement that will weigh like lead on the spirits of many a sanguine Irish boy, and give concern even to readers of a larger growth. Great good is already effected by this series of shilling books. It was an achievement to this generation, and it will be a Treasure to the next. A Treasure not to be buried, or to be held at all sufficient for their over-avarice of knowledge, but to be used and wisely increased an hundred- fold or more. These twenty-two volumes of Irish composition, are, indeed, but an extensive prospectus of an immense work — the creation of an Irish Literature in the English Language. Xll TO THE KEADEa A work first systematically commenced, by the projectors of this series, one of whom, is now, happily, with the saints in heaven. It was their design to make long neglected names familiar to the lips of Irishmen — to show, as far as they could, how much of intellectual delight our authors of the present and past times had pre- pared for us — to reverse the influence of the arrogant spirit and false philosophy of English- written books on Ireland; and to teach all their readers that the Irish nation was, in its essence and intellect, different from the English. In this design, wide as the field was, much has been done. Bounds have been set to extrava- gant assertions of ancient civilization — periods of history, long unknown or mis-known, are made clear as the course of the Shannon — names and writings, hidden for ages in dusty libraries, given to the people, and by them cordially wel- comed. In fine, a compendious Irish Library, breathing an untainted Irish spirit, has been created. This was a great two years' work, a work which, in spite of famine, foreign infi^ience, and its own proper difficulties, will, with God's blessing, be carried through triumphantly; and tj which, it may be added, few men have con- tributed more than the spirited Publisher of "the Library of Ireland." INTRODTJOTION. Of Leinster and its Kings, before the Anglo-Norman Invasion. The ancient Kingdom of Leinster, was not co- extensive with the modern province. Its north- ern boundary was the Liffey, or, at farthest, the little river Tolka ; its western frontier was the Kingdom of Desmond ; its eastern limit the sea; its southern, the ocean. This kingdom was not originally called Lein- ster, but was known by more than one Irish name. However it was so called since the Christian era.* The different races which anciently contended for mastery in Ireland, contended in Leinster. The De Danaans and Milesians fought for its possession before Christ's birth ; the Belgse also, had footing within its borders. Cahir More, a Milesian of the Heremonian race, became King of Ireland in the second cen- tury of our era. He was by heritage King of * It is said to be derived from Laighin, a sort of spear introduced from Gaul, by one of its earliest kingi . XIV INTRODUCTION. Leinster, and from his sons descended the royal line of the kingdom — the O'Connors of Ofifaly, and the clans, O'Dempsey, O'Byrne, O'Tuathal, and others of less mark. Many distinguished kings of the direct line, succeeded to Cahir, and maintained their independence against their equals, and against the Ard-righ, in many ob- stinate battles. They, especially, defended them- selves against the Kings of Munster, who, being more powerful, attempted to saddle upon them a tribute, and to exact it by the sword. They paid it, only when they were unable to resist it. From Cahir More they were called Cahirians, and from Murrogh, who sat on the throne in the tenth century, they took the name of MacMur- rogh. But the Kings of Leinster had other enemies than the Momonians ; and these, in a great mea- sure, of their own fostering — the Ostmen. The pagans of Scandinavia,, early in the eighth cen- tury, appeared on their borders at two extreme points — ^Dublin and Waterford. Their skill as seamen, and their ferocity as soldiers, made them formidable as friends or enemies, and though, at first, the dynasty of Cahir More violently op- posed their settlement, they afterwards permitted it, protected them, and were assisted by them against the tribute-claimers of the south. Some- times they even went so far as to join the Dublin and other Danes, in wars of aggression on the other kingdoms. Now, the Danes had also settlements in Eng- land, and finally they gave a dynasty to that Island. These two divisions of the same race I INTRODUCTION. XV lived on good terms with each other, carried on considerable commerce, and were usually allies in war. Coins of Hardicanute, and Ethelred were struck at Dublin, and when the Irish Danes became Christians, they sent their bishops, of Dublin and Waterford, to be consecrated at Canterbury. Anselm and Lanfranc corresponded with them ; they congratulated William the Conqueror on his accession, and served Henry the Second against his Gaelic enemies — the "Welsh. Here is a train of historic circumstances leading directly to an inevitable consummation — the Anglo-Norman Invasion of the twelfth cen- tury. The only radical attempt to expel the Danes from Ireland, was that of the Ard-righ Brian, made at the beginning of the eleventh century. The battle of Clontarf, fought on Good Friday, A.D. 1014, was, to Western Christendom, a victory of as great import in its age, as Godfrey's taking of Jerusalem, Don John's triumph at Lepanto, or Sobieski's success at Vienna. But still a remnant of the Ostmen continued in Leinster, sometimes friends, sometimes enemies of its Kings. From the death of Sitric the First (who reigned at the time of the battle,) until Asculph MacTorcall, the last vi-King of Dublin, was a period of one hundred and forty-two years, during which time eleven names are given in succession, a? having exercised the same autho- rity. In 1073 they rendered homage to the Ard- righ Thorlogh, and in 1095 to the Ard-righ Mortogh, and in 1142 they supported Cadvvalla- der of North Wales, in his rebellion against XVI INTRODUCTION. Owen, his brother and king, iu which enterprise they lost much more than they won. About the middle of the twelfth century Der- midh MacMurrogh was crowned, at Cnoc-an- Bhoga, Xing of Leinster. At this time, Brodar MacTorcall was vi-King of Dublin. In his reign, or his predecessor's, the Dublinian Ostmen had killed the father of Dermidh, then peacefully visiting them, and had buried him ignominously along with a dog. The new king resented this, and being a man of very violent passions, he " overran and spoiled" their city, " and bore a greater sway over them than any other king had done for a long time."* He was so completely master of Dublin that he granted away the very sites within its walls for the foundation of religious houses — as to the Abbey of St. Mary, and the Priory of All-hallows, f But the roving Ostmen did not relish this rigid sway, though they dared not resist. In 1 1 65, when they served half a year with Henry Fitz-Empress against David ap Owen, they, of course, did not fail to complain of their condition, and no doubt their statements added fresh zest to that monarch's long indulged hope of an invasion of Ireland. In 1167 Dermidh, from having subdued all within his own province, who had revolted from his predecessors, began to extend his con- quests. He may have even entertained the idea of succeeding to the state of Ard-righ. He obliged O'Carroll and O'Melaghlin to give him * Whitelaw*s History of Dublin, vol. I. p. 139. t Ware's Antiq. , INTRODUCTION. xvii srprise ' Der- Loc-an- Brodar reign, n had jefully nously i this, ms, he bore a ng had pletely ly the bion of Mary, roving though served against fail to Dt their march's and. ubdued evolted liis con- ;he idea ;h. He .ve him 39. hostages, and he made a foray into O'Ruarc's country, and carried away his wife, Devorgilla. It is said, he had a criminal object in this abduc- tion, and many fine tints have been put into the picture of the event by poet hands.* But this we can hardly credit, when we know that he himself, at that time, was over three score years old, and that " the young false one," was on the wintry side of two score and ten. It seems to have been a common usage of war in Ireland, to carry off noble women, and hold them to ransom again. Nor was this act of Dermidh's at all sufficient of itself, even if criminal in intention, to justify the measures taken against him by the Ard-righ Koderick. The cause of his expulsion was three-fold. First, he had been tyrannical with his suffragan chiefs, and therefore he was detested by them.. He had travelled out of his patrimony to attack princes as eminent as himself, therefore they combined against him. In making war and taking hostages in Meath and in Breffni, he had directly defied the Ard- righ, who, therefore, longed to punish him. This, in brief, is the history of his banishment and return. The Ard-righ Roderick, O'Ruarc, and O'Me- laghlin marched against him into Leinster, in the * We need scarce refer to Moore's beautiful fiction, **The valley lay smiling before me." The Hon. John Quincy Adams, ex-President of the United States, is author of a long poem on the same subject, called " The Conquest of Ireland," and written in the Spenserian measure. It is very rare even in America, having been published about forty years back. h XVIU INTRODUCTION. year 1167. As soon as they appeared, his subor- dinate chiefs, the vi-King Asculph, (Brodar*s successor,) O'Byrne, and MacGilla-Phadruig, declared for them. A portion of the province, however, especially the people of his patrimonial lands in Carlow and Wexford, fought for him, against Roderick. But after sustaining several defeats he was obliged to fly, and taking shipping at Wexford or Bannow, he arrived safely in Bristol. It was the memorable year 1168, and the King of England was in Aquitain suppressing an insurrection. Thither Dermidh went to seek assistance ; he got from Henry letters patent, commissioning him tu enlist as many of his sub- jects as chose to join in the adventure. With these missives, the banished king returned to England and secured the assistance of some Anglo- Welsh and Cornish knights, to whom he promised golden remuneration in the event of his success. Among these, two were most con- spicuous, Richard de Clare, Earl of Strigul and Pembroke, called, for his powers of arm. Strong- bow, and Robert Fitz-Stephen, a knight. Hav- ing arranged with his allies that they were to follow him in the spring, Dermidh returned in disguise to Leinster, and wintered with the monks at Ferns. In the spring of 1169 Fitz-Stephen came, and in the spring of 1170 Strongbow followed. The Ostmanic cities were taken by the new comers, and lands were granted to them by the king. On these lands they built monasteries, and these sheltei^ed other invaders and so I a^ 1 - 'f \ INTRODUCTION. xix •• ' > the grains of strange seed grew up to cover the face of the land. The secret of the success of this invpsion seems to puzzle many people. It is, however, expli- cable enough. Towards the end of the sixth century Tara was abandoned, as the residence of the Ard-righ Eirinn. Thereafter, the supreme power moved with the arbitrary movements of the monarch's person. Sometimes the King of all Ireland was .n one corner, sometimes in another. The neutral land set apart for him was no longer inhabited, so that he exercised all power, and distributed all honour in his own patrimony. This led to the corruption of the rulers, and the vitiation of the institution. Brian alone, of all the Ard-righs, from the sixth to the twelfth century, made the office really re- spectable ; for Brian was a man of genius, and foresight, and iron strength of will. But Kode- rick had few, or none of these great qualities. Besides, it was not Danes but Normans he had to contend against, and these Normans had a native Irish king for their ally. The Norman discipline was, perhaps, the best suited for the purpose of aggression that had ever yet appeared in the world. Their feudal gradations of rank gave to their appearance the bliarp edge and the wide base of a wedge. They were Danes in vigour, and more than Komans in art and ar- mour. The despotic power of the leaders, and the rigid requirements of their code of chivalry, perfected their capacity for overrunning a terri- tory, broken into several small states, without a centre of union and of power. INTRODUCTION. But, although the office of Ard-righ died, in fact, with Brian, and in form with Koderick, still there arose, from time to time, great Irish- men in corners of the land, who did battle with the enemy for their lands and race, and limited, if they could not defeat, conquest. Of these Don- ald O'Brien and Cathal More O'Connor, are the most remarkable in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and Art MacMurrogh in the fourteenth. Each kingdom in turn made its stand, until it came to Ulster's turn, where we find two heroes, in the same age, nobly contending for the exis- tence of their nation. When shall we see the four principalities joined in a common assertion of the old right, against the unrepentant wronger ? I '■) '• INTEODUCTION TO SECOND EDITION. This delightful little work has been a long time out of print; indeed, so long, that -whenever a copy casually t irned up, it was sold for five times the sum for which the publishers now offer it to the country. The history of Art Mac Murrogh is little known ; but his biography abounds in incidents singularly romantic, and fascinating to the student of Irish History. The author investi- gated all likely sources that could throw light on the career and exploits of King Art ; and, although the materials on which he lit were meagre, he has made us familiar with a series of most interesting events, which, but for his re- search, might never have appeared in print. The life-long struggle of an Irish provincial King to maintain his authority and independence despite the armies of Edward III. of England and some of his successors, is an episode worth pon- dering, and the more so when we reflect that Art came of the same stock as did King Dermid, who brought the invader to our shores j and that xxii INTRODUOnON. his heroic resistance to the English supremacy, in some degree, expiated the crime of his per- fidious ancestor. Who more competent to tell us all ahout this than T. D. M*Gee who, what- ever prejudice may conceive or assert to the con- trary, loved his native land with true affection, and, as everyone knows, contributed to its litera- ture those brilliant pages — in prose and verse — which entitle him to a foremost place in the gallery of our most distinguished historians, poets, and patriots. The pulpit, senate, bar, and the most eminent American literary societies have countersigned and sealed this estimate of Lis character, and at the same time unsparingly stig- matized the wretched assassin who robbed us of so splendid a ^dniua Since Cain slew Abel, there never was murder more brutal and wanton than that perpetrated in Ottawa, April 7th, 1868. It was Tuesday morning in the holiest week of the year, and it is gratifying to know that the victim had, a short time previously, on his sick bed, received all the consolations of the religion of his forefathers, and was preparing to keep Easter- tide, in Montreal, as beseemed a sincerely prac- tical Catholic, surrounded by his wife and young family. Did his slayer receive the grace of repentance 1 God alone knows ; but this we all do know, that the murdered and the murderer have stood, perhaps, face to face at the tribunal of the Eternal Judge. i INTRODUCTION. xxni Whosoever desires to know more of the author's career from his boyhood to his latest momenta had better peruse the admirable Memoir prefixed by Mrs. Sadleir to his Collected Poems, published in New York and Montreal, in 1870. Mrs. Sadleir was M'Gee's intimate friend, and, as such, has given us a biography which leaves nothiu;; to bo desired. It is almost superfluous to state that Sir C. G. Duffy has left us a vivid por- traiture of him in that noble work on " Young Ireland," of whom deceased was one of the most distinguished ornaments in every department of native lore. The present writer occasionally reads and re- reads in an album a long series of letters addressed to him from America, Italy, and elsewhere, by the defunct statesman, historian, and poet, his early friend, and for some years, his almost daily associate. The last letter* he ever sent him, a few days before his death, enclosed one addressed to Lord Mayo, then Chief Secretary for Ireland. Is it not a strange coincidence that he, too, was assassinated 1 The perusal of those memorials brings sorrow to the heart, and when read aloud every sentence sounds like a voice from out the tomb. The volume is closed with that beautiful aspiration of the Church, "Kequiem ceternam *" Dated Ottaw^, April 4, aud published soon after in FreeniaiCa JowrnaL XXIV INTRODUCTION. dona eis, Doinine, et lux perpetua luceat eis." How truly has M*Gee sung — ** Mighty oar holy Church's will To shield her parting souls from ill j Jealous of Death I She guards them still. The dearest friend will turn away, And leave the clay to keep the clay ; Ever and over she will stay," Miserere, Domine, September 10, 1886. n ART MAC MURROGH. CHAPTER I. The dynasty of MacMurrogh — Edward III. pays them an annual tribute— The accession, and early reign of Art Oge, surnamed Kavanagh. Dermidh MacMurrogh, surnamed N-na-Gall, "of the strangers," died at Ferns, in the home of his fathers, and on his bed, in the year of our redemption, 1172. Before his death he had married his daughter Eva, to Richard, Earl of Pembroke, who had assisted in replacing him on the throne, from which his own vices, and O'Connor, and G'Ruarc had expelled him. Dermidh had no legitimate male issue. But his brother David had, and from him descended the powerful chieftain family of MacDavid More, whose heads, down to the seventeenth century, retained much of the royal patrimony in Wex- ford. Dermidh, however, had two sons, whom he recognised in his life as his own (though born out of wedlock), and who were styled princes even in his time. Of these one was called Enna, and from him some of the MacKennas are said to descend ; but Enna makes no figure in history. 2 ART MAC MURROGH. The other, whose name was Donald, was called Kavanagh, from having been fostered at Kil- cavan, near Gorey, in Wexford, and in his person the sovereignty was perpetuated. This Donald was also surnamed " the handsome."* He was a prince of great courage, high spirit, and real patriotism. He had fought for the re- storation of a bad king — but that king was his father. In the war for the Kestoration of ,Per- midh, his was even more than a son's share. He led the attacks on Wexford and on Dublin — he reduced O'Carroll and O'Eyan to subjection — and shared with Earl Eichard the command of that desperate sortie made from the walls of Dublin on the camp of Eoderick. When the Nurman knights his father's impolicy had intro- duced began to contemn their patron, he com- pelled their homage. They yielded it to the father, and therefore cordially detested his son. When the Monarch, Eoderick, put to death the hostages of Leinster, a son of Prince Donald's was among them, and Earl Eichard, it is recorded, (the year of Dermidh's death), executed another, also an hostage at Eerns. But he had other sons in safer keeping.t ♦ See Regan's account of the Invasion in Harris's Hibernica, translated by Carew, Earl of Totness. t Ryan's Hist, of Carlaw. This writer says, he was called Kavanagh from being nurtured at Castlekevin, in Wicklow ; but it is not shown that there was such a castle at that period. The account of the surname I have fol- lowed is that given by my learned friend, John O'Dono- van, in his ** Origin and Meaning of Irish Family 'NiimQS."—Dnblin Pennt/ Jou7uial, — Vol. I. Dublin, Gunn and Cameron, 1840. ART MAO MURROGH. IS his Der- . He -he le There can be no doubt that Donald Kavanagh did assume and exercise the Kingship of Lein- ster. In 1172, we find his name in the list of Irish kings who are represented as having visited Henry II., and who are said to have rendered him some sort of homage. In 1174, we read in English annals thfit " King Donald's men, being moved against the Earl's men, made a great slaughter of English.* The cause of quarrel waSj doubtless, the style of kingship. Eva, Countess of Pembroke, had twice proven the illegitimacy of her brother's birth, in order to make good a title of her own to Leinster. But, under the Irish law, this could profit her nothing, since no female could succeed to any throne in Ireland, and but one had ever usurped success- fully.]" Moreover, the principle of election did not recognise legitimacy, as a claim in males, but only consanguinity. Donald might not have been lawfully begotten heir to Dermidh ; but yet, he could have been very lawfully chosen King of Leinster. In 1175, we are told, this prince was killed in battle "by the O'Niallans "— i.e., O'Nolans.J The chief of this family was, by usage, the nomi- nator of each sucessive Lagenian king, who was crowned at Cnoc-an-Bhogha, in the presence of his lieges, by O'Doran, chief Brehon of the king- dom. If this account of his death be true, it is * •* Annals of Leinster " in Dr. King's Coll. de Rebus, Rib., p. 36. t Meeva, Queen of Connaught, is the notable ex- ception. X Annals of Leinster, p. 36. ^ J ART MAC MURROGH. very likely that he had done something to dis- please that high house, which having made him the MacMuiTogh three years before, now resolved to unmake him. Donald Kavanagh was succeeded by Donald Oge, his son, of whom history is almost entirely silent. Murtogh MacMurrogh was King of Leinster at the beginning of the thirteenth century. At the year 1283, in the fragmentary annals of Leinster, it is recorded that " Murtogh Mac- Murrogh, and Art, his brother, lost their heads at Arcloe, or, as some say, at Wickloe."* At the opening of the fourteenth century, we read of "one of the Kavanaghs, of the blood of Mac- Murrogh, living at Leinster," who is recorded to have " displayed his standards within sight of Dublin."! In 1316, the Lord Justice, the Earl of Carrick, is said to have defeated him at Bally- letham.l In 1327, Donald, son of Art MacMur- rogh, was taken prisoner by the knights, Sir Henry Traherne and Sir Philip de Yalle, and lodged in Dublin Castle. The next ye^?^, by the aid of a cord and Adam Nangle, he escaped, for which aiding " the said Adam being discovered, was hanged and drawn. "§ The MacMurrogh then was Maurice. This second quarter of the fourteenth century opens an important era in Irish history. In * Ware's Antiq., pp. 58, 59. t Campion's Hist, of Ireland. X Ballyletham was probably Ballvloughan in Carlow. § Pembridge's Annals, A.D. 1328, in Camden's Britanuia, vol 2. f ART MAO MURROGH. > 1333, " the English interest " lost its chief guide and lamp, in the death of William de Burgo, the Ked Earl of Ulster. From Strongbow's days to his own, no baron had combined more of the energies and vices of the Norman character. Brave, quick-witted, cruel, treacherous, he had re-edified John de Courcy's castles in Ulster, fixed the wavering Palesmen in their allegiance, and subdued a great part of Connaught. His death was the signal for an extraordinary reaction. His own sons assumed Irish names and Irish customs. The example of the Mac Williams was infectious. MacWattin and MacGibbon became as usual in the south and west, as O'Driscoll or O'Flaherty. John de Courcy's Ulster castles were left to the ravens to inhabit ; and, even in Leinster, the latest graft from the English stock took the hue of the soil. The Graces shouted their Grasha aboo, and the Butlers, Butler aboo. The Fitzgeralds rejoiced in Crom aboo^ and their Desmond relatives in Shaimet aboo. The towns of the old Danish Pale — the mould in which the Anglo Norman Colony was cast — alone retained an exotic character. These were Drogheda, Dublin, Arcloe, Wexford, Waterford, and Youghal. This line of coast still looked to England for protection and alliance. Edward III. was then King of England. Occupied with many enemies at once, he was not unwilling to loose his hold on Ireland. In 1335, therefore, he took the humiliating but politic step of paying a tribute to Maurice, the MacMurrogh, of 80 marks a year, for his tolera- 6 ART MAO MURROQH. tion of the Pale.* This tribute the Kavanaghs afterwards so rigorously exacted, that it was called by the colouists " the Black Kent/' and led to almost as many battles as the famous Bor- romean Tribute of the earlier ages. Some of the English historians call this tribute a pension to the Kings of Leinster — a very flimsy fallacy. Donald MacArt Kavanagh — the same who escaped from Dublin Castle — had con- quered, in quick time, " the whole of the county of Car low, and the best part of Wexford." t In 1358, Art (the son and successor of Maurice), and Donald Eevagh were proclaimed " rebels " in a " Pale " Parliament called at Castledermot, by the Deputy Sancta Amando, the said Art being further branded with deep ingratitude to Edward III., who had acknowledged him as " the MacMurch.'' To carry on a war against him, the whole English interest was taxed to its uttermost farthing. Louth contributed £20; Meath and Waterford, 2s. on every carucate of tilled land ; Kilkenny the same sum, with the addition of 6d. in the pound on chattels. This Art captured in succession the castles of Kilbelle, Galbarstown, Rathville, and other strong places ; yet this is the prince who, we are told, was pur- ) ♦ For the origin of this tribute, see Lascelle*s Memo- rum Publicorum, vol. 1., reign of Edward III. Shaw Mason's Survey of Tulloroan, in Grace's Cantred— note. t Sir C. Coote, Survey, Queen's Co., p, 64. t Pat. Kolls, Edward lil. ^' irniiiiT ■• ART MAO MURROGH. J) I chased mto an English serfage with 80 marks a year 1* A D 1367 ^^ ^^® ®^® ^^ ^^^® ^^^^ ^^^ — ^namely * in 1357, Edward III. regnante — Art Kavanagh, King of Leinster, had born to him a second son — (his first-born was killed in battle) — whom he had baptized by his own name, which seems to have been a favourite in the family. This child was reared up in all the physical ex- ercises and exciting traditions natural to his station and his race. His father prided in his instruction, and he merited it. And in 1364, being seven years of age, he was, of course, ad- mitted to the dignity of knighthood. The qualifications for this honour in Ireland appear to have been — noble blood, unblemished constitution, and dexterity in casting the dart and spear, and in managing the horse. Among the contemporary Christian states the required qualities were — noble birth, truth, loyalty, to be sage, secret, large, pious, hardy, intrepid, and chivalrous. f Among the Saracens, piety, valour, courtesy, prowess, the gifts of poetry and elo- quence, and dexterity in the management of the horse, lance, shield, and bow. J But in no other European country did the age of knighthood come so soon as in Ireland. The Castilian nobles usually knighted their sons at 11 and 12, but never under 10 years of age. ; * * See Sequel. At the years 1377 and 1380. The nature of Black Rent is clearly defined from the Patent Rolls of Edward's successor. t Froissart Chronicon. liv. IT., cap. 118. J Conde Dominacion de loa Arabes, torn. 1, p. 310, A D 1367 When Art was but nine years old, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, brother of the king of England, who had married the daugh- ter of " the Red Earl of Ulster," came over to Ireland to claim the dowry of his wife, and to declare all who did not conform in laws, customs, dress, and opinions with the " English by birth," on either side of the Irish sea, rebels and out- laws. This formidable step in the usur-; 1 legislation, which the colony claimed to exej 3ise over the country, he carried gallantly out — on parchment — in 1367, by the famous statute of Kilkenny. A statute which, in the condition and direction of the then inhabitants of this kingdom, who were natives of it, was neither better nor worse than "a declaration of per- petual war" between the heirs to the land and the adventurers in it.* It sets out with this preamble : " Whereas, at the conquest of the land of Ireland, and for a long time after, the English of the said land used the English lan- guage, mode of riding, and apparel, and were governed and ruled, both they and their subjects, called Betaghese (serfs), according to English law, &c., &c. — but now many English of the said land, forsaking the English language, manners, mode of riding, laws, and usages, live, and govern themselves according to the manners, fashion, and language of the Irish enemies, and also have made divers marriages and alliances between themselves and the Irish enemies afore- * De Lolme — " Political Connexion of Ireland and England,'*— p. 40. London, 1780. ART MAO MURROGH. said" — it was therefore enacted among other provisions, that all intermarriage, gossipred, and buying or selling with the "enemie" is treason — that English names, fashions, and manners should be resumed under penalty of the confisca- tion of the delinquents' lands — that March-law and Brehon-law were illegal, and that there should be no law but Pale-law or English-law — and these enactments were to be violated not alone at peril oi; land and life, but under the threat of excommunication. The archbishops of Dublin, Cashel, and Tuam, the bishops of Lis- more, Killalla, Ossory, Leighlin, and Cloyne, with sundry mitred abbots, all of " the English interest," so ordained it. Such was the pro- clamation of social war, drawn up and agre(i upon at Kilkenny in 1367. In this light the soldier King of Leinster regarded it, and accordingly he marshalled his clansmen, and marched against the legislator. Lionel appears to have retreated from Kilkenny, according to the informant of Froissard,* who says, "both armies met very near the city of Leinster " — that is, Dublin. " Many were slain, and taken on both sides ; but the English gaining the day, the Irish were forced to fly, and the King of Leinster escaped."! In this "flight," the Irish carried off their prisoners, among others the informant himself. See Appen- dix. In 1369 we find the old King at war with * A Freucli chronicler and poet, born about 1333, died 1400. t JolineB*s Froiasard, vol. id., p. 58., ed. 1806. 10 ART UAO MURROQH. the Lord Deputy, William do "Windsor, Clarence having returned to England. It was, perhaps, in revenge for his victories, that De Windsor caused his predecessor, Dermidh Lamhdearg, who had heen long a prisoner among the English (und whom he had been chosen to succeed), to be put to death in Dublin — an outrage which fed the flame of war in the bosoms of his people.* Two years later the Engli**!! Parliament granted an annual sum of ten marks to the Prior of old Leighlin, for keeping the bridge at that important pass against the Irishry. In 1373 Carew, to whom the barony of Idrone had been granted, dying, Art, the elder, seized on Bally- laughan and Ballymoon Castles, and the sur- rounding districts, which he continued to hold manu forti — by the strong hand. The barrier was removed from Carlow to Dublin, by an act of the English Parliament — Pro Barrio amovendo a Catherlagh usque ad Dublin. It was about this period that the young Art first distinguished him- self in arms, being then but sixteen years old.f A.D.1377. ^^ ^^^^ ^^® victorious oil monarch died. He had raised up his dynasty and standard to a great eminence. This he had done in the very midst of his enemies. He had reduced the annual revenues of the English settlement to ten thousand pounds. He had fixed his allies as well as his own family, firmly in the land * Dermidh, the red-handed, MacMurrogh, seems to have been kept as an involuntary hostage in Dublin. t Annals of the Four Masters. ( JLRT MAO MURROOn. 11 ':ai il The O'Moores felt as secure in Leix as Diina- mase itself — the O'Dempseys banked the Barrow for many a mile — the O'Tooles and O'Byrnes kept the glens and hills of Wicklow as firmly as the Spanish Arabs held their "worshipped Grenada — the O'Nolans lorded it in Forth, the Mac-Giolla-Patricks in Ossory — the !MacDavids, MaoMurroghs, and O'Dorans in "Wexford, and the standard of the king himself floated over, not only the halls of his old inheritance, but the towns of his conquest. No greater descendent of Donald the Handsome, had yet been borne to an earthen bed, in the churchyard of Saint Mullins.* Trained under such a father, the young Art, now in his 20th year, sat in the chair of corona- tion at Cnoc-an-Bhogha,f and being nominated by O'Nolan, and approved by the chiefs of the tribes assembled, he was invested by the Arch- Brehon, O'Doran, with the title or "the Mac- Murrough," king of Leinster. A powerful frame, and amazing activity were combined in the youth- ful prince, with an ardent love of poetry and music, and a sincere devotion. To his enemies he appeared "very fierce and terrible," but to * This cemetery had been for generations the burial- place of the Leinster kings. Saint Moling himself is believed to have been of the race of Cahir More. He was Bishop of Tuam, and died about 697. He erected the church called after him. Tigh-Moling is situated on the Barrow in the south of the Co. Carlow ; and the church of the same name was also built by him in the village of that name, Co. Kildare. t The present name of this locality is unknown. 12 ART MAO MURROOH. his friends as gentle as a hooded daughter of Saint Brigid. Tlio year of his coronation he was recognized hy the Pales-men, who, in a parliament held at Castledermot, voted to him the annual tribute of eighty marks — "as the late king had done to his ancestors,"* he agreeing to open the highways of Kilkenny and Catherlogh. In 1 380 this tribute was again voted by parlia- ment, and some smaller sums to Malachy Mac- Murrogh (his uncle), MacDavid More, and Manus MacGerald, and with similiar conditions.! Yet in this year, even while the parliament of the Pale still sat, the king of England granted a title to Sir John Beaumont and his heirs for ever of Art's entire patrimony, " from the Slane (Slaney) on the part of the south, to the Black- water, at Arklow, on the part of the north, and from the main sea on the east to the bounds of Catherlogh, and Kildaro on the west," saving only the lands of the Earl of Ormond. Truly a liberal king, and a rich grant, if Sir John's sword can make it good. We do not find, however, that Art or his kinsmen were lurther molested at this time. Yet this peace he knew was but a hypocritical submission, and he sagaciously resolved to devote his whole life to the weakening and depression of the overreaching Clan Saxon, until, from sheer necessity, it should be forced to knit itself to the land, and look inward, and not outward, for protection. To this policy the then state of the Irish church was the most formidable bar- 11 1 1 * Viii. KoUrf.-llichd. II. t Ibid. ART MAO MURllOOTT. 13 of •i rier. Many of the monasteries were, in all but name, fortresses for the English. The bishops, too, being nominated at Rome, where Kii^laiii I no opposition — for the heyday of his popularity had not yet declined. A parliament was sum- moned to meet at Westminster, when they readily voted him " a tenth " of the revenues of the entire kingdom.* Such as held by knights' service were called upon to contribute their " amounts of men-at-arms or archers ;" the great churchmen, with whom Eichard was a favourite for his orthodoxy, also contributed largely. The merchants of the privileged seaports were re- quired to send ^ sufficient number of galleys, cogs, carracks, lines, and ballingars, round to Milford-haven, for the transport of men, horsed, and munitions. All the Irish of Engii:.h origin, who had lately abandoned their adopted country, were required absolutely to return, and their great numbers helped not a little to swell the royal ranks, f Sir Thomas Scroope was sent over to Ireland early in the summer, as Lord Justice, to announce the king's coming, and to prepare Dublin for his reception. But when the king was nearly ready to depart, his queen suddenly sickened and died, at Shene, now called Kichmond. And Richard so lamented her, that he caused the walls of the palace to be thrown down, and its bounds to be erased. He paid to her memory the most magnificent obse- quies, and gathering together his army, hurried away to Milford, to banish his grief beyond the seas. Doubtless, his eye moistened, and his soul grew still more sad, as his galley sailed out past * Daniel's *' Eichard II." p. 270. Lond. 1706. t Frynne's Addenda to Coke's Instit. ,,i hi ■ 'hi ■I! H 20 ART MAC MURROGH. •« Saint Amie's head, aimll»iW*ni'irrtiJt&»^' ART MAO MX7BR0GH. 21 lea lof ill i There, also, was the wily Gloucester, the king's uncle, young Eoger, Earl of March, his heir, Thomas Mowbray, Earl of !N"ottingham, after- wards the challenger of Bolingbroke, the Earl of Rutland, the Lord Thomas Piercy, afterwards Earl of Westmoreland, and father of " Hotspur," and Sir Thomas Morely, heir to the last Lord Marshal of " the Pale." No marvel was it that the good people of "Waterford, alias Portlargi, turned out to witness the debarkation of so much nobility. The king landed — the townsmen cheered — the churchmen were saluted by brother churchmen — the nobles and knights followed the king — the men-at-arms and archers followed — then the grooms, leading their liberated horses through the ooze, fol- lowed — and the mariners moored their disbur- dened vessels. Te Deum was chanted in that cathedral where Earl Richard had wedded the Princess Eva — where Henry and John had knelt — and loud thanksgiving sung to the God of the ocean, who had led the king safely over the long and perilous sea. That night the sun went down on a crowded and motley multitude within the walls of the city, and on board the ships along the Suir. Richard remained a week in Waterford. He gave splendid f^tes, and received some lords of the neighbouring country, of questionable loyalty, as the Le Poers, and others of semi-Irish castes, as the Graces and Butlers. He made some gifts to churches, and ratified the charter given by John to the great abbey of Holy Cross. He issued a summons to the Earl of Desmond to li'L •i f i m 11 ih V, 22 ART MAO MURROGH. appear before him by the feast of the Purifica- tion, "in whatever part of Ireland he should then be," to .mswer to the charge of having usurped the manor, revenues, and honour of Dungarvan.* Although it was then near the middle of October, he took the bold resolution of marching to Dublin, through the country of the enemy, and knowing the memory of Edward the Confessor to be popular in Leinster, he furled the royal banner, and displayed that of the can- onized king, which bore " a cross patence, or, on a field gules, with four doves argent on the shield, f His own proper banner bore lioncels and fleur-de-lis. Meanwhile the King of Leinster was not idle. He had full information as to the movements of Kichard, and he prepared his clan and his allies, to wage a defensive war, in their own defiles and from the skirts of their own forests. -He had no mind for risking a pitched battle in the plains with such a force as Richard's. Among the walled towns of Leinster, Koss- Mac-Bruin (since called New Ross) was one of the most considerable. At the close of the pre- ceding century it had been so defenceless that the Irishmen of the adjacent country would ride into its marts, and carry away whatever they ♦ Lynch's Feudal Dignities of Ireland," This Earl •was the celebrated Gerald, " the Poet," who went to war with the Butlers, because they had nicknamed him, in contempt, "the Rhymer." He is accused, by the English, of having being skilled in magic. He died in 1399. t Eroissard— Johuu3*s trans, vol. xi. chap. xxvi. \x ■..»»».>«USi W» » V i W . r-' -^ -.ai«i.. .■». i l..HL«l|M |l!!ei8> 'w«r.y ^-i^.^.- ■-<>< ART MAO MUHROGH. 23 )f X coveted, without paying any price, or only such prices as they chose to set upon its merchandise. The wars of the Geraldines and the Le Peers, also kept its people in perpetual alarms. At last they were roused to a sense of their position, and after frequent consultations it was resolved to fortify the place, in this manner : — each of the trades resolved to devote one day of the seven to the work. The sailors commenced on Monday ; " the coatmakers " and fullers followed on Tues- day ; the butchers, cordwainers, and tanners on Wednesday ; the fishermen a^ ' huxters wrought on Thursday; the wain wrigx.ts on Friday; and the blacksmiths, masons, and carpenters on Sat- urday. On Sunday the ladies assembled, carried stones and laid them by the side of the foss, and along the foundations of the walls ; in memory of their share in the work, " the Ladies' Gate " was erected. This was all done to the pleasant sound of the flute and tabor — and banners were borne, each day, before the several trades, as they marched to the entrenchments. The priosts and cloistered clergy blessed their labour^ and a genius of a local chronicler has presented to us, in these lines the curious history of its comple- tion : — Twenty feet that foss is deep, And a league in length doth creep. When the noble work is done, Watchmen then there needeth none | All may sleep in peace and quiet, Without fear of evil riot. Fifty thousand might attack, And return them bootless back. Warlike stores there are enough i :» h 1 I' If'. 5i « I' •'! il t 1 i 24 ART MAO MUnnOOH* Bold assailant to rebuff. We have hauberks, many a onet Salvage, garcon, haubergeon ; Doublets, too, and coats of mail, Yew-bows good, withouten fail. In no city have I seen Bo many good glaives, I ween. But in spite of all its walls, and gates, of its " above one hundred knights," its three hundred and three score " cross bowmen," and " three hundred archers ;" its three thousand men, " armed with battle-axe and lance," and all its " good shields and talevaces,"* Eoss was taken. And though the confident chronicler had pro- phesied, " When the wall was carried round, None in Ireland would be found Bold enough to come to fight," one was found. The city horn twice sounded, and burgess and mechanic rushed to the walls, but in vain. The Ladies* Gate, and all the gates were burst into by the army of King Art, who, "burned it with its houses and castles, and carried away with him gold, silver, and hos- tages.""!* Having thus demolished this strong- hold, which it was to be presumed the King of England would have made the second stage of his progress, he retired into the recesses of his * Talevaces — large wooden shields. The quotations in the text are from the very singular poem on the entrenchment of Ross, translated by Mrs. Maclean, (Miss Landon), in Croker's " Popular Songs of Ireland," pp. 291, 304. See Appendix. ■f Four Masters, a.d. 1394. 't immuKvm ^fm'-:' I ART MAO MUBROan. 25 own proper territory, there to await his adversary's coming. King Eichard, roused into activity by tidinga of this exploit, set out at once for Kilkenny. It is probable that he sailed with some of his lighter vessels into the Nore, passing by Koss with no delighted eye, and debarked near the ancient monastery of Innistioge. Then marching by the right bank of the river, we can see him approach- ing the grave monastic town of Kilkenny, so unlike the busy trading port he had left ; with its grey towers and many crosses, its half fortified bounds, and its dingy streets, spanned by many arches. A few years before, the Butlers had obtained that lordship from the Marshals, and the Earl of Ormond, the> head (who had been of late Lord Justice), was devoted to the king's interest. Here, such Lords of "the Pale" as could make their way through "the Irishry" joined the king, and amongst others came old Sir William de Wellesley, the hereditary stand- ard bearer, with others whose titles had been for years equally empty and vain in Ireland. Eichard, who resolved to rest himself a while in the city of Saint Canice (or perhaps the state of the weather would not allow him to continue his march), commissioned the Earl Marshal of England, to go into Carlow, there to treat peaceably with MiicMurrogh and his allies. The Marshal, accompanied by a strong force, took his way towards the borough of Carlow, by Leighlin bridge.* Having sent out heralds to ♦ Doubtless he passed the bridge free of passage, in- ii'i r'! lit J m hi '1 HI V t iJi If' ■1211.: i i iii P Mi -'I .1., . 26 ART MAO MUnROOH. proclaim that he came to make a truce, and to invite the attondanco of the chiefs of Leinster, he encamped in the plain of Ballygorry, where King Art, with Malachy, his uncle, Kory Ogo O'Moore, Donald 'Nolan, O'Byrne, MacDavid More, and other chieftains were assembled to hear his mes- sage and consider his terms. The sight must have been a strange and imposing one. Never on any field in Gaul or Ireland had the Celt and the Norman stood so confronted. Each had of the other's power the experience of two centuries. The Celt had learned from the Norman the value of art in war — and the Norman had imbibed from the Celt legends, and feelings, and beliefs, which he had forgotten were foreign to the nature of his fathers, so completely had they entered into his own. When Mowbray's herald proclaimed his master's state and mission, the chiefs, Mala- chy, MacDavid More, and some others declared themselves willing to submit to the terms, un- heard of, and arbitrary as they were. For the Earl was commanded to covenant with them on these terms alone, " that they before the first Sunday of Lent would surrender to the king the full possession of all their lands, tenements, castles, woods, and forts, which by them and all other of the Kinsellas, their companions, men, or adherents, late were occupied within the province of Leinster." And the condition of this surrender was to be, that they should have unmolested asmuch as the abbot of Leighlin was so well paid for keeping the bridge, and his own fidelity whole and entire. CijaMffilBWi^BSl'3-ral!''-'^''*?'^ to lie id p ( possession of any and all lands they could con- quer from the King's other Irish enemies, else- where in the kingdom.* King Art, however, refused to treat on these terms, declaring that if he made terms at all, it should bo with the king, and not with the Lord Marshal ; and that instead of yielding his own lands, his wife's patrimony in Kildare should be restored. This broke up the conference, and Mowbray returned to his master. King Kichard was vain, and King Richard was wroth. Putting himself at the head of his army he advanced the standard of Edward the Confessor. But his march through Hy-Kinsel- lagh was slow and painful : the season and the woods fought against him ; and he was unable to collect by the wa^ provender for the horses or provisions for the men.f MacMurrogh, who had adoped the Fabian policy, had carried off every- thing of the nature of food — took advantage of his knowledge of the country to burst upon the Normans at night, to entrap them into ambus- * Sir "Richard Cox*s account of this matter is shame- fully inaccurate in some points. He speuks of the Eari Marshal, as being Lord Deputy, and dates the transaction at 1380. However, on the nature of Mow- bray's terms he is authority, as from his position he had every information our old state papers give of such matters. t In the first expedition, however, the army expe- rienced nothing like the dreadful sufferings recorded of the second ; each man (according to Froissard's inform- ant. Master Castide) was regularly paid "every week, and so well they were satisfied." — Johnes*s Froissardf vol. xi., p. 156. i h i\ 28 ART MAO MURROGH. cades, to separate the cavalry from the foot, and by many other stratagems to thin the ranks of the enemy and harass the survivors. At length Eichard despairing of dislodging him from his fastnesses in Idrone, or fighting a way out of them, sent to him another deputation of " the English and Irish of Leinster,' inviting him to Dublin to a personal interview.* This proposal Art accepted, and the king continued his way to the chief city of his lordship, probably along the sea coast by Bray, and the white strand over Killiney and Dunleary, now Kingstown. Soon after his arrival in Dublin, care was taken to repair the highway which ran by the sea, south- wards. Dublin was not then the magnificent city which it has grown to be. Indeed, all cities then were very unlike the clusters of spacious streets and open squares which modern art has so plentifully erected. The Litfey flowed out to sea in a de- vious course, spreading here and there into pools, and then gushing along in narrow and rapid currents. One bank alone — the right — could be called populous. There rose Ihe Castle and the two Cathedrals, and around these the narrow and winding streets coiled themselves within a wall strongly built, with many gates and towers, and warders and sentinels. On the opposite bank the straggling suburb of Osmantown, and the * Annals of the Four Masters, a.d. 1394. At the same year it is recorded "MacMurrogh, that is, Art, 8on of Art, waged war against the king of England and his people, and many of them were slain by him." ART MAO MURROGH. 29 precinct of St. Mary's Abbey, alone were erected ; and a solitary bridge, built by the Dominicans, for the use of their scholars, was all that con- nected the suburb with " the city." A house had been prepared for the king in Hoggin Green, now College Green, (just without the city), on nearly the same ground where Henry the Second's wicker-work palace stood, in the winter of 1172. Here, surrounded by his English courtiers, and his Irish subjects, several noblemen, some bishops and abbots, and the municipal dignitaries of Dublin, Richard, like Henry, prepared to pass his Christmas. But first he received a letter from his council in England, congratulating him in crabbed Kor- man French, on his successes against his " rebel MakeMurgh," a compliment which the recollec- tion of his bloody march through the glens and morasses of Leinster, hardly allowed him to lay as a sufficient solace to his soul. How the king's Christmas passed — with what mimes, and mysteries, and jousts — with what min- strelsy and tales the long nights were beguiled by noble and soldier — it would be in vain to essay narrating. Suffice, it passed ; and the spring was to see the sowing of the seeds of a new polity and peace in Ireland. Hi I 'Jill' ' '"ill 4 .1 W» " m W ii' ^.tl iff ^1 ■ i ! Nil ;'i 30 ART MAO MURROGH. '■li ft CHAPTEE III. Richard's Policy — Gloucester's Mission — The Ulster Princes — MacMurrogh entrapped — His escape — The Accolade — Arrival of the Deputation of English Bishops concerning the WicklifiBtes and Lollards Richard returns into England. — The English in that age. During the feasts of Christmas and the Epi- phany, several Irish chiefs visited Richard in Dublin, where, according to his tastes, he kept a magnificent display, gave the most expensive entertainments, and conferred presents on every hand. This conduct soon dissipated the treasures he had carried with him for the purposes of the war, so that he found himself constrained to send over his uncle, Gloucester, to England, to raise new supplies. Gloucester carried a letter to the regent, York, countersigned " Lincolne," and dated from Dublin, "Feb. 1, 1395." York im- mediately summoned a council, consisting of the Counts (as they were then styled) of Derby, Arundel, De Ware, Salisbury, !N'orthumberland, and other magnates, who " readily voted a tenth off the clergy, and a fifteenth off the laity, for the king's supply."* This they sent with a docu- ment, s^ned by them all, exhorting him to a vigorous prosecution of the war, and a demolition of all forts belonging to " MacMourgh (or) le grand O'Nel." With these they sent him another ♦ Daniel's liichard II., p. 270. I|l ' I lat ART MAO MURROGH. 31 letter complimentary of his valour, and discretion in all things.* As yet the Irish kings of the four provinces had not appeared before him, either by deputy or in person ; but, hearing that the Ulster chiefs were disposed to do so, he moved early in March as far as Drogheda to meet them. He took up his abode there in the Dominican Convent of St. Mary Magdalen, where, on the eve of St. Patrick's day, O'lSTeil, O'Donnell, O'Keilly, O'Hanlon and MacMahon visited him, and ex- changed promises of amity for his. It is said they made " submission," but of this there is not ex- tant any record. I have no proof : and it may be remarked that such proofs would not have been unknown until this day, if they had existed. Some of these princes accompanied Richard back to Dublin, where O'Brien and O'Connor, and MacMurrogh himself, had arrived in the interim of his absence, t " A very handsome house," according to Master Castide's notions, was set apart for the four kings and " their attendants." The Earl of Ormond, who was conversant with the Irish language, and he, Castide, (who had learned it while a prisoner with one he calls "Brin Costeret,") were appointed as interpreters to wait upon them, and translate between them and the English * Letters of the English Privy Council, Ed. by Sir H. Nichols. Vol. I. Of the king's letters received or written in 1399, none seoiji^ to have been preserved.^ fit was probably from Drogheda that the two knights of King Richard's train set out on the Pilgrimage to St. Patrick's Pur^jatory, recorded in Froissard. 'ill •'liil ; k n-: .H. 32 ART MAC MURROGH. nobles. They would have, it seems, very much to the disedification of the English esquire, " their minstrels and principal servants sit at the same table and eat from the same dish." The interpreters employed all their eloquence in vain to dissuade them from this habit which they perversely called " a praiseworthy custom," till at last, to get rid of importunities, they con- sented to have it ordered otherwise for the time.* On the 24th of March — being the eve of the feast of the Annunciation — the Cathedral of Christ's Church beheld the four kings devoutly keepijig the vigil, necessary as an initiation to the honour of knighthood. They had been persuaded to accept that honour from Eichard's hand. They had apologised at first, saying they were all knighted at the age of seven. But the ceremony, as performed in the rest of Christen- dom was represented to them as a great and religious custom, which made the knight and the king equal, which added new lustre to the crowned head, and fresh honour to the victorious sword. All this was true. Chivalry was an institution of the church ; it grew up out of that great central fire of zeal which glowed in feudal Europe's breast ; the zeal that cast the arch and piled the dome, and toned the bell and inspired the organ; the zeal that could not bear to seft the tomb of our Kedeemcr in the hands of infi- dels, and which hated for His memory's sake, * Johiies's Fioissaid, vol. xi. chuxi. xxvi. re( ini ART MAO MURROGH. 33 with a hatred surpassing all other hate, the sons of the accursed race who drove the nails, and raised the gibbet, and offered the gall-soaked sponge to assuage His burning thirst, on Calvary. On the Feast of the Annunciation they were knighted with great pomp, amid all the splendid accessories of the ceremony, military and reli- gious.* But Art Mac Murrogh had not come to Dublin to play a part in ceremonies alone. Residing under the same roof with O'Connor, O'Brien, and O'Neill, it is probable he was preparing them for the formation of an Irish league which would rid Innisfail for ever of the clan-Saxon. Ormond appeared before Richard as his accuser, and he was at once arrested and conveyed to the castle. The exact nature of the charge against him, is unknown, but from the fact of the accuser being the chief interpreter and chief keeper to the four kings, we can conjecture no other solution than this. " He (Art) was soon after set at liberty," say the annalists of Donegal, "but O'Byrne, 'Moore, and John O'Mullain were kept in prison after him."t But these chiefs also were liberated or escaped, and while their imprison- ment but confirmed their allegiance to their king, it deepened and darkened the course of their hatred against the foreigners, April — the sowing time of the English king's * Some ignorant historians give this consenting to receive the order of knighthood according to the Nor- man custom as a proof of submission to Richard — an inference warranted neither by logic nor history. t Four Masters— Connellan's Translation, p. 180, m Si; 1' ^ i •ii • ;j , ) i ■|! I 34 ART MAO MURROQH. policy came. First he observed the feast of St. Richard, Bishop of Chichester, whose name he bore, and then he summoned a parliament to meet at Kilkenny on the 12th of the month. The acts of this parliament have not seen the light ; an obscurity which they share in common with all the documents of this prince's progress in Ireland.* The feast of St. George which falls in April afforded Richard new opportunities for those displays and pastimes, in which he loved to indulge. While these events were taking place in Ireland, England was thrown into a state bor- dering on convulsion by the height to ' which the religious controversy, raised by Walter Lol- lard at the beginning of the century, and con- tinued by Wickliffe, had now reached. This controversy was in some respects the same as that afterwards revived between Luther and the See of Rome. But the English Lollards and Wickliffites taught not only heterodoxy in reli- gion, but insubordination to the state, and like all other religious bodies of the same age, they held, in their zeal, that princes and powers opposing or refusing to hear their truths should be smitten with the sword and slain. After Wickliffe's death the discussions about his prin- * This remark was made in other terms, near three hundred years back, by Grafton in his chronicle. These are his words : " 1394. This year King Richard made a voyage into Ireland, which was nothing profit- able or honourable to him, and therefore the wrytera think it scant worth the notyng."— Chronicle of Eng- land, vol. 1, p. 460. t t t 1 r ART MAO MURROGH. 35 ciples continued, and yearly increased in in- tensity. As he had managed to escape direct ecclesiastical censure during his life, he did not want defenders even among churchmen and pro- fessors. The Abbot of Leicester, Brit, Sharp, Ingelmo and Peteshull ingeniously defended his doctrines, while Swasham, Bishop of Bangor, and Berton, chancellor of Oxford, led the doctors of the Church. The very populace became heated in the dispute, and cheered or hooted the partizans in favour or out, whenever tliey appeared in public. The prelates, awakened to the danger to religion and the state, which was brewing about them, resolved in a synod which they held in 1395, to depute some of their body to wait on the king in Ireland, to tell him of the increase of the excitement since his absence, and to entreat his return. This deputation which was headed by William of Wyckham,* and reached Ireland early in May, drew so dark a picture of the aspect of society in England, that the king prepared at once to return with them. But first he appointed the young Earl of March his lieutenant in Ireland, and then confirmed the ordinance of Edward the III., empowering the chief governor of Ireland, in council, to call parliaments, by writ, which writ should be of * Bishop of "Winchester, born in 1324. He super- intended the erection of Windsor Castle, founded a grammar school at Winchester, and a college in Oxford. He died in 1404, after having rebuilt Winchester Cathedral ; for which see the Most Hev. Dr, Milner's celebrated work. Ml I 'jll . 1 «k ii H I«H ■: '■ V 36 ART MAO MURROQH. equal obligation with the king's writ, in England. He ordained that a fine of not less than fifty marks and not more than one hundred should be exacted of every representative of a town or shire, who being elected as such, neglected or refused to attend. He reformed the courts of law, and appointed Walter de Hankerford and William Sturmey, true Englishmen, "well learned in the law " as judges, whose annual salaries were to bo forty pounds each. Having made these arrangements, ho took an affectionate leave of his heir and cousin, and sailed for England, whither he was accompanied by most of the great nobles who had passed over with him to the Irish wars.* Little dreamt they of the fate which impended over many of their heads. Three short years and Glo'ster would die by the assassin's hand, Arundel by the ex- ecutioner's axe, and Mowbray, the Earl Marshal, the trusted ambassador at Ballygorry, would pine, unto death, in Italian banishment. Even a greater change than any of these — a change of dynasty — was to come upon England. The character of the English at that ago deserves our study. The number and influence of cities and towns had much increased ; and the commons of the kingdom had become more conscious of their own power. But as yet, uneducated and credulous, this consciousness * It is probable that Richard coined money here either in 1395 or 1399. See Simon's Irish coins, pp. 18, 19. I do not know that any of them are now m preservation. . Atlt MAC MURROGH. 37 found play rather in acts of folly than of wisdom. They pretended to see miracles in all things — in a low ebb tide — in the flight of birds — and the appearance of the heavens. They believed in alchemists and soothsayers so firmly that one main cause of Richard's deposition was a pro- phecy, which a waxen-head was reported to have made in these words : " The head shall be cut off; the head shall be lift up aloft; the feet shall be lift up above the head."* Their cre- dulity and their prejudice often borrowed each other's shape. Thus the regular clergy becoming unpopular, a story ran that " the devil appeared at Danbury, in Essex, in the likeness of a grey friar."f Even the great shared these follies. But the great were redeemed by many noble virtues. The spirit of chivalry, nursed and en- couraged in the long reign of the late king. panted for fields in which to display itself before the world. A war in Ireland had not the same attractions for them, as a war in France. Indeed, they nearly all agreed with Froissard's informant, " that Ireland was one of the worst countries to make war in or conquer. "J Having then no other foreign field, they occupied them- selves with the Wickliffe controversy, reading Gower and Chaucer, or in the detection of Lollards lurking about their estates. Such was the people among whom Richard now returned. A people who we^'e just intelligent enough to discern his * Sir R. Baker's " Chronicle," p. 154. t lb. 165. j Johnes's Froissard, vol. xi. p. 155. I ft' '«• W hi' !( 'I m '\ a 38 AFT MAC MURROQH. faults, and resolute enough to punish them when- ever they should reach the ripeness of their nature. How that punishment really came the sequel will tell, meantime we return to the King of Leinstor, and young Mortimer, now lieutenant of "the Pale." ! u CHAPTETi lY. Mortimer— The Wicklow Clans— The Second Escape of King Art — Ho takes Carlow — Battle of Kells, and Dea^' of Mortimer — King Richard resolves on a Second Expedition into Ireland — The state of Lein- ster, A.D. 1399. A D 1395 "^^^^ Roger Mortimer, now left at the head of English affairs in Leinster, singularly enough, was legitimately descended, though by the female side, from its ancient kings. His ancestor, Eoger, Lord Wigmore, had married the daughter of Sirongbow, by the lady Eva MacMurrogh, from whom this young Earl was fifth in direct descent.* It was, therefore, doubt- less with some view to disarm the hereditary prejudices of the Irish against mere strangers, that Richard left his dearlv beloved cousin and heir, in a government for which he was, other- wise, in no particular, but in courage, qualified. He had only reached the age of adolescence ; * Three of his ancestors had held the office of Lieute- nant of Ireland before him, viz. : Chief Justi' ;e Mortimer, in 1381 ; Edmund, Earl of March and TJltter, in 1380, and Sir Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, in 1317 and 1319. ^, i ART MAO MUUROGH. 39 in experience, the masking and mimicking Court of England could have taught him but little of the science of government or the art militaiy. Bub there were men of his council long skilled in the most important offices of peace and war. Soldiers who had served under Edward against the French, and sagacious statesmen, both of English and Irish birth. Among the latter were Alamaric Baron Grace, whose wife was an O'Meagher of Ikerrin, and whose family a few generations earlier had intermarried with the MacMurroghs; James Butler, Earl of Orniond, an indomitable soldier, who had actod as Lord Deputy and Lord Justice in former years of this reign, whose house also had intermarriages with the MacMurroghs ; Cranley, Archbishop of Dub- lin, and Koche, the Cistertian abbot of St. Mary's, lately created " Lord Treasurer of Ireland ;" Stephen Bray, Chief Justice ; and Gerald, fifth Earl of Kildare. Among his advisers of English birth were Roger Grey, his successor ; the new Judges, Hankeford and Sturmey, and others of less pacific reputation. With the dignitaries of the Church, and the innumerable priors and abbots, in and about Dublin, the court of the Heir Presumptive must have been a crowded and imposing one for those times, and had its external prospects been peaceful, much ease and pleasure might have been enjoyed within its walls. But King Art and all the clans of Leinster had sworn never to rest, by day or night, as long as a hostile ]power existed on their shore. They III 131 (IS i' H- ■ .1 f l|' k {•fl 'I m {) I ,, ( > 11 40 ART MAO MURROQH. 1 ;! > i I t I n had sworn it before God, and called on all their saints to l)ear witness to their oaths. They had invoked St. Moling of the royal race, and St. Kevin of Glendalough ; St. Laserian the learned, and St. Brigid, the spiritual mother of the island ; they had called upon St. Kioran of Ossory, and St. Aiadan, of Ferns ; and were they now to lie down at the feet of a boyish viceroy, and lick the hand of a descendant of Strongbowl The brave memories of Art and Donald forbid ! Resistance was equally enjoined by the "wis- dom of O'Doran, and the stirring songs of Mac- Keogh.* Resistance was natural to the inhabitants of the hilly country called by the Danes and Saxons, Wicklow. Two chief tribes abode among these hills, the O'Jjyrnes and O'Tooles. The homes of these were the eastern glens; of those the ■western. Some Danish families, Archbolds and Harolds, driven by their Norman relatives from the low country about Dublin, had come to settle on their borders, and these, now Christians and enemies of Britain, they soon won over to their side. Like themselves, the Danes were hard-riding and loud-revelling men, trained in all dangerous exercises, and fearless as lions. They knew how to tear the wolf from his lair, and to hunt the otter in his haunts. They slept with skian and sparLhe and spear at hand, and their shields were the mirrors before which their morn- ing ablutions were made. Were it not that they * A grave and learned Jurisconsult. MacKeogh was bound to the 0' Byrnes. I ABT MAO inmRooa. 41 M I lacked a little of the geniality and fervour of the Celtic nature, they might have been taken for real natives of those highlands ; but they could not, as the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles could, bend freely like young ash trees of Shillelagh, and spring up undeformed into their original erect- ness. These Irish and Danish clans being near neigh- bours to Dublin, " hung perpetually," says an old chronicler, " over the neck of the city." From that memorable " Black Monday," -^^hen they had spoiled the sport of tho Bristolians at Cullenswood, they had been engaged in perpe- tual wars with its burghers and authorities. In- numerable were the hostings raised and the tallages granted to prosecute the war against them ; they could no more be prevented pouring down from their mountain homes than the Ovoca or the Lilfey. The wise men in Prince Roger's court thought the time at last had come when they were to be efFectuallly rooted out ; but in making their calculation to this effect, the wise men, as we shall see, showed themselves no better than fools. Before the borders of " the Pale," however, could be effectually enlarged and secured it was necessary to try if King Art could not be got into the power of the wise men. To effect this, they resolved on a stratagem which has but too many parallels in the history of their predecessors. They invited him to a feast at the castle of one of their number. Whether this castle was Ormond's at Kilkenny, or Kildare's castle at Maynooth, we know not. It is certain I M lli Ijf '•I ■ ii •I a fl^ 43 ART MAO MURROGIt. it was not Dublin Castle, nor is it^ likely to have been any of those within the Irish border in Wicklow or Carlow. It may also be assumed that it was not the residence of any of the secondary nobles in the English interest. The king came, attended only by his inseparable min- strel " MacMurrog:h— in hia hand his sword^ And on his lip the courteous word."* All without the castle spoke peace — all within, cordiality. The flower of the Saxon chivalry were there — and he who had beaten their hosts in the 5eld, was resolved not to be vanquished in the courtesies of the banquet. The table was laid upon the dais — fresh rushes were spread upon the hall — the " dresser " blazoned with plate shone at the back of the host. The flesh of deer and swine, of wild geese and cranes, favourite dishes of the country, crowded the board. Foreign wine with the inie of the roseate eastern sun abounded, and usquebaugh tempered with fennel-seeds and honey, stood in flagons on every hand. The ornamental ship laden with spices perfumed the hall. Now, the kin^^'s harper was famous throughout all Leinster for his powers, and the Saxon lords were anxious to hear his melodious performance. His master requested him to play them some strain of love or mirth, suited to the liour. He prepared to comply, but whether in reaching for his harp or in changing his attitude, he saw from a window ♦ " Bride of Imael." f !m ART MAO MURROOH. 43 of the castle that it was being gradually sur- rounded by armed men. He seized the instru- liicat and struck the thrilling notes of the Rosg Catha, or Battle Song. The unsuspecting king chid him for this breach of propriety, and he feigned to change the air, but again sterner and wilder than before the battle song swept over the strings. Suspicion, like an electric blaze broke upon the mind of Art ; he walked to the window and beheld his peril. His whole form and countenance changed. That terrible fierce- ness which struck so forcibly the attention of one whose authority we will by and by have to quote, came over him. He seized his trusty sword, his shield and his casque. His treacherous guests stood appalled at the premature discovery of their plot, and in their confusion he passed unopposed from the banquet room. Th y called aloud on the armed men without to seize him, but *• by the strength of his hand and his bravery "* he escaped from them, bringing safely away with him his faithful harper. This was his second escape from the Saxons. He took care never to put himself into their power a third time. * Annals of the Four Masters. TaafTe's Ireland, Vol. I. — Reign, Richard I. Father Taaffe is not always a good authority, yet he is almost the only writer of this century who seems to have studied the character of my hero. It was his florid description of this adven- ture of King Art, related to me when a boy, by a worthy artizan of Wexford, that first fixed his name in my memory. Hi It i] '"I m ! *\ '■] t !i . 14 I, .> M 44 ART MAC MURROGH. ^ fi I He now resumed hostilities with all A.D. 1396. j^.g former vigour. He stirred up the vassal chiefs to similar activity, and a war, than which none more important was prosecuted in that age, ensued. The few facts which time and the English have not destroyed, will show how boldly and how perseveringly it was waged. The O'Tooles came down from their homes, in 1396, to battle with the " Palesmen," whom they de- feated in a great engagement. From this field "six score heads" were brought to their chief in the gray glen of Imayle.* The castle of Car- ton was one of the strongest in all Ireland : indeed, its ruins (which I have myself examined) are at this day marvels of enduring masonry. It had been long held by the English, and under its shelter a corporate town had grown up. Its flanks were defended by massive towers, by balliums, outer balliums, and all the other per- fections of mediaeval fortification. It was by far the strongest place on that part of the Barrow, and so important, that the Courts of Common Pleas and Exchequer had formerly been held in it. This castle, and its adjunct the town, were taken in 1397 by King Art, and they were never again recaptured during his lifetime.^ About this period we get a glimpse of some- thing like a foreign policy adopted by the chiefs of the Leinster Irish. For five hundred years * Four Masters, a.d. 1396. Imayle is pronounced Ee-Mall. t Anthologia Hib., vol. II. p. 393, where there is an engraving of the castle as it appeared towards the end of the last century. ART MAO MURROGH. 45 they had had no fleet. In the ninth century they had foolishly abandoned their sea-board to the Danes, and in the twelfth to their successors, the Anglo-Normans. In all that time there was not one safe harbour, from Howth to Hook, in their hands, if we except, perhaps, Bunnow, which, it appears, did then deserve that name.* It was this that so long secured the English in the possession of Dublin, Wexford, and Waterford. If the MacMurroghs, like the O'SuUivans of the south, and the O'Flahertys of the west, had made the sea their barrier, " the Pale" could not long have existed. But the next best thing to creating a fleet — an idea which does not appear to have been entertained — was to invite merchants and mariners, of some country hostile to England, into the Irish sea, and to aid and encourage them in every enter- prise against her vessels and merchants, and the marine and commerce of Dublin and Waterford; — to adopt, in other words, a privateering warfare, where no regular vessels of war could be fitted out. Now, the Scotch, ever since the death of Edward III. (nearly twenty years), had enjoyed independence and peace, and had devoted much attention to commercial affairs. Their inter- course with Ulster and Leinster had, in conse- quence, increased; and they exported largely from hence, in common with England, frieze and serge, wheat, corn, and some wooLf There • Co. Wexford. t History of British Comii erce, chap. iv. Macpher- fion's Annals of Commerce. i I ii n iiii (3 ill H 46 ART MAO lIUBROaH. ^ U had long been (from the days of Columbkille to those of the Bruces) a feeling of relationship between the countries. Hence, we will not be surprised to hear of fleets of the Scotch and Irish doing battle along the sh.-'es of Leinster with the mariners of Dublin, and their allies from Chester and Bristol. That these sea fights were connected with, and influenced by, King Art's land attacks upon the same power, will be evident enough. In 1399, we learn the once flourishing port of Waterford was so poor, it could not pay the expenses of its representatives to Parliament;* and in 1400, of a desperate engagement in Strangford Lough between the citizens of Dublin, commanded by their con- stable, and the Scots and Irish.f But we are anticipating. Prince Roger was now entering on the third year of his lieutenancy, and he had not yet signalised his government by any great advantage gained over " the enemie." The trap laid for Art had failed, and, in his battles with the Wicklow clans, he often came off second best. Determining not to continue inglorious, he marched into Ossory, under the advice, perhaps, of Ormond. He was accom- panied by all his power. A D 1398 ^^ ^^^® midsummer, and the woods along the Barrow and the Nore were green in their summer glory. All the natives of the forest looked upon his march. There grew the kingly oak, the melancholy yew, the supple * liynch's Feudal Dignities, passim, t Whitelaw's Dublin, vol. 1,, p. 176, ART MAC MURROGH. 47 ash, the stately fir, the delicate aspen, " good for staves," with their secondary kindred, the alder, the willow, the blackthorn, the witch-hazel, and the birch. Droves of swine herded under their boughs, feeding on acorns, mast, and other wooden fare ; the birds fluttered in their branches, and, unfrightened by hawk or falcon, sung their artless songs at the bidding of beneficent nature. Prince Koger, too, v/as in the fulness of his strength, and the heat of his youth ; and so he held upon his reckless way, even over the Barrow, and into the ancient Cankopolis itself. *** On this march it seems he was followed by the O'Byrnes and their Wicklow allies. These, it is probable, joined forces on the way with Art ; for it is impossible to conceive Mortimer crossing the Barrow without the king's knowledge. The English, either in acceptance of a challenge, or in pursuit of the Irish, who, perhaps, led a march in turn, were induced into the district of Kenlis, now the barony of K-i'ls, beyond the ISTore. Here, on the banks of i':e stream called " the King's River," the two armies met, face to face, in an open field, for the first time in this war. The numbers must have been between ten and twenty thousand on each side. With Roger were Ormond and Grey; with Art, Donald O'Byrne and other Leinster chiefs.f It was the * The name given to Kilkenny in many old books, from its patron St. Canice. 1 1 have no positive authority for putting Art in this battle, but sufficient circumstantial evidence. In the first place, Mortimer could not have reached Kilkenny \ I 1 1 iliii ;» iM » !li J\ 48 ART MAO MURROGH. 20 bh of July, the feast of St. Margaret, the virgin. The arms of the combatants were nearly equal ; but the English had greatly the advan- tage in armour. King Art^s own proper force, it is related, were equipped " at all points," in a manner that excited the admiration of the French cavalier, who has written the account of Richard's second expedition; but the use of defensive armour had not even then universally obtained among the Irish.* The battle was long and bloody, but decisive. Great numbers fell on both sides, and among them Prince Roger himself (who was disguised as a hobbler), and then in the 24th year of his age. Heir to the throne for which so many of his ancestors had sighed ; the sceptre almost had touched his hand, when Death waved it away, and claimed him as its own. In truth, an untimely eclipse of the rising sun of Eng- land. The consternation which the result of this battle spread through " the Pale," was un- bounded. The scattered remains of the army cowered under the walls of Dublin like sheep that a storm had suddenly blown from a bare hill. Roger Grey was elected Lord Justice, and by any possibility without his knowledge : in the next, the Wicklow clans alone would not have risked an open battle with the lieutenant's whole force. Moreover, it is stated that "the O'Byrnes, O'Tooles, and others" were on the Irish side, and MacMurrogh was accused, afterwards, of causing Mortimer's death. See seq. p. * It is observable that the second clause of the statute of Kilkenny forbids, as treasonable, the sale of armour "to the Irish enomie." \ ART MAC MURROGII. 49 Archbishop Cranley and others sent over to England to break the sad tidings to the king. They found him in the midst of cabals and troubles. His uncle, Gloucester, had been put to death — Norfolk and Hereford banished — and the entire aristocracy disorganised. Yet, having long prided himself on his management of Irish affairs, he immediately appointed, as successor to Mortimer, his half brother, Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent, recently created Duke of Surrey. To this Duke he made a gift of Carlow castle and town, " to be held (if taken) by knights' service."* He then, as much, perhaps, to give occupation to the minds of his people, as to pro- secute his cherished project of subduing Ireland, began to make preparations for his second expe- dition thither. Death again delayed him. John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, his uncle, and one of the most famous soldiers of the time, suddenly sickened and died. As Hereford, his heir, was in banishment, the king, under pretence of ap- propriating his estates to the service of the nation, seized them to himself. The great dra- matist of English history has, in his own match- less words, described King Richard's feelings on hearing that the Duke was dying : — K. Michard — Now, put it, heaven, in his physician's mind, To help him to his grave immediately ! The lining of his coffers shall make coats To deck our soldiers for these Irish wars. ;!.!■ i Jim »I ■0.!j 51? ■' lilt ' \x\ ^, \-Vi Irish Penny Magazine, vol. 1., p. 314. ■ 11 I! 60 ART MAC MURROGH. 1'' • (i! Come, gentlemen, lot's all go visit him ; Pray God we may make liuate, and come too late 1''* While the King is thus playing the part of a voluntary executor, by his dead uncle's property, let us try if we can set clearly before our eyes that altered stage where he is once more about to act for a few brief months. After the battle of Kells, . su ssion of disasters bofel the English ini' Ui.st, which seemed, indeed, a just judgment foi j.t ^Tcrilegious burning of Glen- daloch, in the previous year. Maurice, the son of Pierce D'Altoii, of Meath, was slain by the MacGeoghegans of Westmeatii ; Gerald, Earl of Desmond, died, and his successor, in a little time after, was drowned, fording the Suir at Ardfinnan; finally, the Earl of Kildare was taken prisoner by the " Calvach O'Connor and the cavalry of Olfaly," and confined under the surveillance of the gallant Murrogh O'Connor, t Thus, the magnates of the Pale, with the ex- ception of the Earl of Ormond, now advanced in years, were in the hands of their Irish chiefs. In the spring of the year 1399, Art MacMurrogh found his kingdom as great as it had been in the days of any of his ancestors, since the sea- kings established their Pale in Leinster, in the ninth century. And he resolved, if it did not become greater, it should not, at all events, become less. * Richard II., Act I., Scene IV. If Chatham learned history from Shakespeare, may we not quote him as an authority on historical character ? t For some account of Murrogh see sequel. u ART MAC MUl"inO(JH. f)l CnAPTER V. Crrton's Colloquj' — Uichavd's Return to Trclanfl — Con- dition of Waterford — March to Kilkeimv — Sir Joriicho d'Artois — Campaign in Carlow — Knit^hthood of Prince TIal, yonng Gloucester and youn!>* Salisbury — Malachy MacMurrogh's Submission — King Art falls back on Wicklow — Distress and Mutiny among Richard's men — A Scene on the Sea-shore — The Conference at Glenart — A Price set on King Art's Head — Duke Aumerle arrives at Dublin— Richard's Death and Character, AD 1399 "^'^ ^^^® departure of winter/ Sc; 3 the guide, who here meets use; ou way, proffering his guidance, " when nr y a bush may be observed to blossom in the h xds, and the birds sweetly to rejoice, the m?j of the nightingale is to be heard that maketn many a lover joyous and gay (just in that season) ; five days before the first of May, when every one ought to lay aside mourning and sorrow, a knight, whom I heartily loved with a most tender re- gard, said unto me, * Friend, I lovingly beseech you, that you will accompany me cheerfully into England. It is my wish to go thither without delay.' *Sir,'I replied, *you may command me, nor doubt that I am ready to bend my will to your good pleasure.' An hundred times the knight thanked me, saying, 'Brother, we must set out very soon, for, bo assured, it will be needful for us to make haste.' "* * This is the romantic opening of the history of Richard II.'s last expedition to Ireland, and deposition ** Composed by a French gentleman of distinction * -I i i 1)1 131 ' it ' ' 1 52 ART MAC MURROGIt. 4 I These brothers in arms, quitting Paris, reached London just as Kin^j Kichard was about "to cross the sea on account of the injuries and grievances that his mortal enemies had commit- ted against him in Ireland, where they had put to death many of his faithful friends. Where- fore they were further told, " he would take no rest until he had revenged himself upon MacMore, who called himself most excellent King and Lord of great Ireland ;* where he had but little territory of any kind." On hearing this, the French knights asked and obtained leave to embark in that expedition. Accordingly they set forward to Milford, where, ** waiting for the north wind," they re- mained " ten whole days." Here they found King Eichard with a great army, for his pre- parations had been going on from the end of the preceding winter. The clergy were forced to supply horses, waggons, and money — the nobles and the towns, their quantities of knights, men- I ■ I ■■ ■ I I II ■ ..!» . II - .^1- ■ I ... I ■ - — —MM MMa ^M^B^P— ^»^—i— — W^— ll ^ (Creton), who was in the suite of the said king, with permission of the King of France, 1399." Archaeologia, vol. XX., edited by the Rev. John Webb, London, 1824. * In Lord Totness's translation of a part of this ac- count he observes that, ** this must be a mistake of the French author ; for the MacMurroghs never pretended to more than the Kingdom of Leinster. " " In opposition to this," says Mr. Webb, ** it may be observed, that it is not likely thi*v he should be deceived i.i what he must 80 often have heard ; and he dwells upon it as if he felt offended with the chief for his presumption." The story was probably an English exaggeration of Mac- Murrogh's ambition, circulated to justify Richard'a efiorts to exterminate him. ART ICAO MUBROQH. 63 id ko id It- it at-arms, and archers — the eeaports, from New- castle to Penzance, were obliged, by an order in council, dated February 7th, to send vessels rated at twenty-five tons and upwarr's to Mil ford, by the octave of Easter. King's letters were issued whenever the usual ordinances failed, and even the press was resorted to, to raise the required number of mariners. Minstrels of all kinds crowded to the camp, enlivening it by their strains, and enriching themselves.* The wind coming fair, the vessels "took in their lading of bread, wine, cows and calves, salt meat and plenty of water," and " the king taking leave of his ladies," they set sail. In two days they saw " the tower of Water- ford." The condition to which the people of this Anglican stronghold were reduced by the war, was pitiable indeed. Some were in rags, others girt with ropes, and their dwellings seemed to the voyagers but "huts and holes." They rushed into the tide "up to their waists, for the speedy unloading of the ships," especially attending to those that bore the supplies of the army. Little did the proud cavaliers and well- fed yeomen, who then looked on, imagine, as they pitied the poor wretches of Watcrford, that ere many weeks, they themselves should be reduced by a wasting war to the like necessity — even to rushing likewise into the brine, to con- tend for the food the too slow tide would bear them ! Six days after his arrival, which was on the i \i «ifl f Iff Archa3ologIa, notes pp. 23 and 24. 5i ART MAO MTJRHOGH. ill 1st of June, King Ivichard marched from Water- ford " in close order to Kilkenny/' He had now the advantage of long days and warm nights, which, in his first expedition, his army lacked. His numbers were somewhat less than in 1394; some say twenty, some twenty-four thousand in all. The Earl of Rutland (Duke of Aumerle) with a reinforcement in one hundred ships, was to have followed him, but this unfaithful friend did not greatly hasten Lis preparations to over- take his master. With the king were the Lord Steward of England, Sir Thomas Percy ; the Duke of Exeter ; De Spencer, Earl of Gloucester ; the Lord Henry of Lancaster, afterwards King Henry V, ; the son of the late Duke of Glouces- ter ; the son of the Countess of Salisbury ; the Bishop of Exeter and London; the Abbot of Westminster, and several other dignitaries, bishops, priors, and abbots. He dropped the subterfuge of bearing Edward the Confessor's proper banner, and advanced his own standard, which bore "leopards and flower de luces." In this order, "riding boldly," they reached Kil- kenny, where Richard remained a fortnight awaiting news of Aumerle from Waterford. No news, however, came. But while he waited, he received news from Kildare which stimulated his hopes. Jenico d'Artois, a Gascon knight of discretion and valour who had been in his ser- vice for many years, and had come over to Ire- land tlie preceding year with the Duke of Surrey, marching to form a junction with him, had encountered some troops of the Irish in Kildare (perhaps, bound on a like errand to their king). AhV MAO MURROGH. 55 in whom he fought and put to flight. It was said he left two hundred of them dead upon the field. This Jenico, relishing Irish warfare more than most soldiers of his age, contiiiued long after to serve in this Island ; married one of his daughters to Preston, Baron of Naas, through which house his blood still domiiiLtes in Leinster — and another to the nrst Lord Port- lester. Here, where he fought so many battles, and adventured on so many expeditions, he ended his days at last. "With the exception of Ormond and Furnival, he was, perhaps, the greatest soldier the English armies could boast in this age. On the 23rd of June, " the vary vigil of St. John," a saint to whom the king was much devoted, Richard, resolving to delay no longer, set out from Kilkenny, and marched directly towards Carlow, doubtless by the old route of Leighlin. Ho sent a message to MacMurrogh, "who would neither submit nor obey him in any way ; but affirmed that he was the rightful King of Ireland, and that ho would never cease from war and the defence of his country until his death; and said that the wish to deprive him of it by conquest was unlawful." Bravo words, and true son of Caliir More ! IVr^cMurrogh, who was now some years beyond middle age, had had, by his wife, two sons, Art, his lieir, and Donogh. These were probably with him in the field, where he had of his own clan " three thousand hardy men ;" " who did not appear," says Creton, " to be much afraid of the English." The cattle and corn, the women H m ft w. iji'< if 56 ART MAO MURROGH. 1 and 'the helpless, he had removed into the in- terior fastnesses, while he himself awaited, in Idrone, the approach of Richard. This district which lies north and south be- tween the rivers Slaney and Barrow is of a diversified and broken soil, watered with several small streams, and patched with tracts of morass and bog. It was then nearly two-thirds coverec' with woods, except in the neighbourhood of Old Leighlin, Polmonty, and a few other places where villages had grown up around the castles of King Art and his predecessors. Coming to the border of the forest in which Ballylaughan stood, King Richard ordered all the habitations in sight to be set on fire ; and then " two thousand five hundred of the well pffected people began to hew a highway into the woods."* When the first space was cleared, Richard, ever fond of pageantry, ordered his banner to be planted on the new ground, and pennons and other standards to be hoisted on every side. Then he sent for the sons of the Dukes of Gloucester and Lancaster, his cousins, and the son of the Countess of Salisbury and other bachelors-in-arms, and there knighted them with all due solemnity. To young Lancaster, ho said, "My fair cousin, henceforth, be preux and valiant, for you have some valiant blood to con- quer." The youth to whom he made this address was little more than a boy, but tall of his age, and very vigorous. He had been a hard student * Other accounts say ** prisoners ;" but in this chap- t»^r I follow our French Guide, as th*? best of his age. ART MAO MURROGH. 57 at Oxford, and was now as unbridled as a colt new loosed into a meadow. He was fond of music, and afterwards became pious.* He is the Fifth Henry of English history. Who could have foreseen when first he put on his spurs by the summer wood's side, in Carlo w, that he would one day inherit the throne of England and make good the pretensions of his predecessors to the crown of France 1 Richard's advance was slow and wearisome in the forests of Idrone. His route was onward to- wards the eastern coast. Art retreated before him, harassing him dreadfully, carrying off every thing fit for food for man or beast, surprising and slaying his foragers, and filling his camp nightly with alarm and blood. The English archers got occasional shots at his men, " so that they did not al] escape ;" and they in turn often attacked the rearguard, " and threw their darts with such force that they pierced haubergeon and plates through and through." The Leinster king would risk no open battle so long as he could thus cut off the enemy in detail. Many brave laaights fell, many men-at-arms and archers ; and a deep disrelish for the service began to manifest itself in the English camp. A party of his ^Yexford lieges, however, brought one day to his camp, Malachy MacMur- rogh, uncle to the king, a weak, treaty-making * Probably it was in performance of some vow niado duriiig this Irish campaign that he founded, when kingf, the convent of tho order of St. Brigid, near his palace of Richmond. I\ n It:: mi. ^ i > y I ! I 'a ! !• 58 ART UAO MURROGH. man. According to the custom of that century — observed by the defenders of Stirling and the burgesses of Calais — he submitted with a tuythe about his neck, rendering up a naked sword. His retinue, bareheaded and barefooted, followed him into the presence of Richard, who received them graciously. *' Friends," said he to them, " as to the evils and the wrongs that you have committed against me, I pardon you on condition that each of you will swear to be faithful to me for the time to come." Of this circumstance he made the most, as our guide goes on to tell in these words : " Then every one readily complied with his demand ;" i.e, took the oath. " When this was done he sent word to MacMore, who called himself lord and king of Ireland (that country)^ where he has many a wood but little cultivated land, that if he would come straight- ways to him with a rope about his neck, as his uncle had done, he would admit him to mercy, and elsewhere give him castles and lands in abundance." And this was the answer of King Art : " MacMore told the king's people he would do no such thing for all the treasures of the sea or on this side (the sea), but would continue to fight and harass him." Well said again, son of Cahir More ! For eleven days longer Richard continued his route in the direction of Dublin. MacMurrogh and his allies falling back on Wicklow as their great fortress. The English cuuld find nothing by the way but '*a few green oats" for the horses, which, being exposed night and day and so badly fed, perished in great numbers. The ART MAO BITTRROGH. 59 general discontent now made itself audible even to the ears of the king. For whole weeks " five or six men' had but "a single loaf." Even gentlemen, knights, and squires, fasted for days in succession ; and our chivalrous guide, for his own part, "would have been heartily glad to have been penniless at Poitiers or Paris." Daily deaths made the camp a scene of continued mourning, and all the minstrels that had come across sea to amuse theii victor countrymen, like the poet who went with Edward II. to Bannock- burn to celebrate the conquest of the Scots, found their gay imaginings turned to a sorrowful reverse. At last, however, they came in sight of the sea coast, where some vessels laden with provisions, that had been sent round from Dublin, were awaiting them. So eager were the famished men for food, that " they rushed into the sea as eagerly as they would into their straw." All their money was poured into the hands of the merchants; some of them even fought in the water about a morsel of food, while in their thirst they drank off all the wine they could lay hands on. Our guide saw full a thousand men drunk that day on "the wine of Ossey and Spain." The scene of this extraordinary incident we conjecture to be at or near Arklow, where the beach is sandy and flat, such as it is not in any part of Wicklow north of that place. That it did not occur to the northward of Bray is clear, from the fact of the vessels being sent from Dublin ; whereas, had the army been witliiu h. It:: ■ :;i. I 'I. h \i ,*k 'I. H il^ I ;■ i i II 1 60 ART MAO MURK06H. a day's march of the city, this would not have been the case. The morning after the arrival of these stores, King Richard again set forward for Dublin, determining to penetrate Wicklow by the valley of the Ovoca, and those other eastern vales that lead from the upper meeting of the song-famed waters to Bray. He had not proceeded far on his march, when a Franciscan friar reached his camp, as an ambassador from the Leinster king. This unarmed messenger, whose cowl history cannot raise, on the part of his king, expressed a willingness to treat with the Royal head of the clan London, through some accredited agent — "some lord who might be relied upon" — "so that their anger (i.e., Richard's and his own), that had long been cruel, might now bo ex- tinguished." This announcement spread '^ great joy" in the English camp. A halt was order«:d, and a council called." After due consultation, it was resolved that De Spencer, Earl c^' Glon- cester, should be empowered • confer with Art. This nobleman, now but twent v-six years of age, had served in tlie campaiga oi 1394. Ho was one of the richest and most distinguished peers of England, and had married Constance, daugh- ter of the Duke of York, Richard's cousin. From his possessions in Wales, he probably knew something of the Gaelic customs and speech. He was captain of the rear guard on this expedition, and now, with 200 lances and 1,000 atohers, all of whom were cliosen men, he fj"t o'lt for the conference. Our guide also went ^v'th uim as he l.imsclf relates: — ■ AUT MAO MUUROGH. 61 "Between two woods, at some distance from the sea, I beheld MacMore and a body of the Irish, more than I can number, descend the moun- tain. He had a horse, without housing or saddle, which was so fine and good, that it had cost him, they said, four hundred cows ; for there is little money in the country, wherefore their usual traffic is only with cattle.* In coming down, it gallopped so hard, that, in my opinion, I never saw hare, deer, sheep, or any other animal, I declare to you for a certainty, run with such speed as it did. In his right hand he bore a great long dart, which he cast v/ith much skill. ♦ * # * His people drew up in front of the wood. These two (Gloucester and the king), like an out-post, met near a little brook. There MacMore stopped. Ho was a fine large man — wondrously active To look at him, he seemed very stern and savage, and an abie man. He and the Earl spake of their doing, recounting the evil and injury that MacMore had done to- wards the king at sundry times ; and how the} 1 1 * Upon this expression, Mr. Webb favourF 'us readers ■with some loose comments about the traffic barbarous and savage nations, including the native . ish of the 14th century in the category. But this node of ex- change, so far from proving the non-cxist< > oe of coined money among them, only proves the abui^ iunce ot black cattle. Had Mr, Webb looked more c osely into the laws of his own country, he would find, at the beginning of this very century, an act of the 7th Edward III. against the circulation of native Irish coins among his subjects of Ireland. These coins are denominated Turneys. This is only one of several similar instances in which Irish coin is mentioned. f. i 62 ART MAC MURROGII. I I t\ 1 i i< 'i II ; I! i all forswore their fidelity when wrongfully, without judgment or law, they most mischiev- ously put to death the courteous Earl of March.* Then they exchanged much discourse, but did not come to agreement ; they took short leave, and hastily parted. Er.'h took his way apart, and the Earl returned towards King Eichard."f This interview seems to have taken place at the opening of the vole of Arklow (also called Glen-Art), both from the description of the scenery, and the stage of his march at which Richard halted. The two woods, the hills on either hand, the summer-dried Ovoca (which, to a Frencliman accustomed to the Seine and Thames, naturally appeared no bigger than a brook), form a picture, the original of which I believe, on this side of the island, can only be found m that locality. Ma;r not the name Glen- Art be CO inected with the event*? Richard was waiting impatiently for the return of Gloucester. He who had refused to submit at Ballygorry—-" the canker that lay in the heart * This warrants the historical conjecture about Art's presence in the battle of Kenlis — ante p. 47. t Phrases applied by Hollingshed and Campion to King Art. Strut (Regal and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of England, p. 17) describes MacMurrogh's dress and those of his attbndants, as he says, " from an old painting," thus : ** MacMurrcgh has a light pink robo over his shoalders, and the figure next to him is iu Tvhite with a red cap ; and the third is in red with a white cap. The middlemost figure of the soldiers is in red, and the other two in blue." The vignette of this scene in "Moore's Ireland," vol. 3, is engraved from an illumination to Creton's Chronicle. ART MAC MURROOn. 63 ■ id t, id Leinstcr" — the puissant captain at whose prowess all Leinstcr trembled" — the defcater of a generation of generals — was now ahout to render himself into his hands ! Visions of tour- naments and banquets, over which, in the crown jewels he had brought with him, he was to pre- side, as the sun and centre of splendour, dazzled his luxurious imagination. The unsuccessful ambassador approached the camp slowly and reluctantly. Of Art, ho declared, " he could find nothing in him, save only that he would ask for pardon, truly, upon condition of having peace without reserve, free from any molestation or imprisonment ; otherwise, he will never come to agreement ds long as he lives ; and (he said), * nothing venture, nothing have' This speech was not agreeable to the king ; it appeared to me that his face grew pale with anger ; he swore in great wrath by St. Edward, that, no, never, would he depart from Ireland, till, alive or dead, he had him in his power." A rash oath, king! The King, notwithstanding, was most anxious to reach Dublin. He at once broke up his camp, and marched on through Wick low, " for all the shoutings of the enemie." What other losses he met in those deep valleys our guide deigns not to tell, but only that they arrived at last in Dublin " more than 30,000 " strong, which includes, of course, the forces of the Anglo-Irish lords that joined them on the way, There " the whole of their ills were soon forgotten, and their sorrow removed." The provost and sheriiTs feasted them fcumptuously, and they were all well housed and ji« i IT 64 ART MAO MURROGH. clad. After the dangers they had undergone, these attentions were doubly grateful to them.* But for long years the memory of this doleful march lived in the recollection of the English on both sides the Irish sea, and but once more for 150 years did a hostile army venture into the fastnesses of Hy-Kinsellach. When Richard arrived in Dublin, still galled by the memory of his disasters, he invented a notable design for conquering his chief enemy. He divided his force into three divisions, and sent them out in quest of Art, joromising to who- soever should bring him to Dublin, alive or dead, "one hundred marks, in pure gold." "Every one took care to remember these words," saith our guide, "for it was a good hearing." And Richard, moreover, declared in his passionate way, that if he did not capture him, when the autumn came, and the trees were leafless and dry, he would burn "all the woods, great and small," or fii I out that troublous rebel. For shame, for shame, son of Black Edward, to treat your noblest foe as a wolfish felon, and not as he was, a chi- valrous christian prince, defending his undoubted inheritance by honourable strategy and just ex- ercise of arms ! * Whitelaw, in his History of Dublin, vol. 1. p. 176, says, ** Kichard arrived in Dublin June 28th," but then ho dates his arrival at Waterford, on May 13th. Ho did not arrive at Waterford (as we have seen) until June let : he did not leave Kilkenny until the 23rd, and was eleven days on the way to Arklo'/V. Ho could not have reached Dublin before the middle of July. ART MAO MURROGH. 65 The same day that Richard sent out his three troops, Aumerle, his laggard cousin, arrived at Dublin with 100 barges. His unaccountable delay he submissively apologised for, and was readily pardoned. "Joy and delight" now reigned in Dublin. The crown jewels shone at daily banquets, tournaments and mysteries. Every day some new pastime was invented, and so six weeks passed, and August drew to an end. Richard's happiness would have been com- plete had any of his servants earned the price of MacMurrogh's head : but far other news was on its way to him. Though there was such merri- ment in Dublin, a long-continued storm swept the channel. When fair weather set in a barge arrived from Chester, bearing Sir William Bagot, who brought intelligence that Henry of Lan- caster, the son of the late Duke, had returned to England, and raised a formidable insurrection amongst the people, winning over the Arch- bishop of Canterbury, the Duke of York and other great nobles.* Richard was struck with dismay. He at once sent the Earl of Salisbury into Wales to announce his return, and then, taking the evil counsel of Aumerle, marched himself to Waterford, with most part of his force, and collected the remainder on the way. Eighteen days after the news arrived he em- • A cotemporary metrical annalist of England thus re- cords the fact — ** Whatwylo he werrid be west on the wylde Yrishe, Henrie was entrid on the est half, Whom all the lande loved in length and in brcde. ** s . i! w 66 ART MAO MURROGH. barked for England, leaving Sir Jolin Stanley, lus Lord Lieutenant, in Ireland. Before quitting Dublin, he confined the son of the Duke of Lan- caster, and his cousin of Gloucester, in the impregnable fortress of Trim, where they re- mained for some weeks, in durance. Tlioy were then liberated at last to share in the triumph of Henry IV. It is not in our way to tell of Richard's de- thronement and death. We have no business of the white rose or tlie red. Ho died bravely as became a king. Ho lived weakly. In his love of favourites, his prodigality, and his desire for military distinction, ho much resembled his ancestor Edward II. But Richard was certainly the braver man, and, perhaps, the better. As he had few of the iron qualities of great soldiers, so ho had few of their inflexible; passions, as revenge, avarice, and impiety ; still it must bo confessed, his talents for civil business were mean enough. His favouritism of Cheshiremen — his cruelty to the Lollards — his placing Northumber- land under ban at tho very moment he was leaving the kingdom — his whole conduct in rela- tion to his uncle Glos'ter — his m.inagement of these Irish wars, at one time offering castles, lands, and tribute to MacMurrogh, at another setting a price on his head — all taken together convey to us a very poor opinion of his states- manship. That he was aifectionate as a husband, generous as a friend, personally brave, and, though irritable, of a forgiving nature, is evident from the common facts supplied us by all historians. But that ho was immensely in- ART jfAo Munuoon. 67 forior both to Kilwaivl III., niul the tv/o Henrys who suc(5oe(.led him, oven his wannest defeiKLu's — and he has had them even in our own age — will admit. We must return to the King of Leinstcr and his contiuests. II. as CHAPTER VI. liioutona-icy of Lord Thomas of Lancaster — Of Sir John Stanloy— Dattlo of Bray— Tho Prior of C »nal— Art reconquers Woxford — Sir Stephen Scroopo — Ormond liord Deputy — His Death — Kildaro elected IiOr' v: '/ Photographic .Sciences Corporation ^ ^•\ ^ r<\^ \ c\ o^ ^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4503 '•V 1 ; li 08 ART MAO MURROGH. almost to a man, so the magnates of " the Pale," following their loyal example, proclaimed Henry IV. their " very good Lord," and his deputy, their deputy. Among this perjured pack not the least notable was the Bftern old soldier, Ormond, and the courtly Archbishop of Dublin, Cranley. The Lord Thomas did not come over in the first year of his father's reign, but ap- pointed, as his deputy, Sir John Stanley, ances- tor to the Earl of Derby, who had three times filled the same ofl&ce in the reign of Bichard. During his short administration the olily occur- rence of consequence was the sea-fight between the Dublinians and the Scots in Strangford Lough. Many were killed on both sides, but neither sfiectually beat the other ; Sir John being obliged to go to England, in his first year of rule, the Bishop of Meath acted for a short time as Lord Justice; he was superseded by Sir William Stanley, brother to Sir John, as deputy, who in a few months made way for Sir Stephen Scroope. At last the Lancastrian usurper feeling more easy in his throne, his son came over with a commission to act as Lord Lieutenant for twenty-one years. But at Martinmas (Novem- ber) he again returned into England, re-appoint- ing Scroope, his deputy. In the Lent of the next year Scroope also went to England, where new civil wars daily threatened Henry IV., and on his departure old Ormond was elected by the council to succeed him. Some months after the choice was confirmed by the king. The rapidity of these changes in the administration ART MAC ^nJBROGH. 69 i I but A.D. 1404. show the uncertainty of power in tho new gov- ernment. Ormond, though now far gone in years, yet retained much of his military spirit. In the preceding year, he had waged on some personal ground, a fierce war with the Earl of Desmond, who was aided by MacMurrogh against him, while Ormond was assisted by the MacWilliam Burkes of the west. He now again stirred up the military spirit in the breasts of the warlike burghers of Dublin, who appointed a general hosting for a day early in July. To this tryst came all their friends, and at their head went forth to battle, John Drake the Provost, with his train-bands and bachelors, hobblers and kerne, armed with talevace and spear, haubergeon and helmet. On the 11th of July, the O'Byrnes and other Wicklow " enemies" met them at Bray, where a bloody and obstinate battle en- sued.* The Irish lost about five hundred men, all warriors ; the loss of the citizens is not set down, nor do they claim this a victory, though Donald O'Byrne in consequence of it abandoned one of his castles in that neighbourhood. En- couraged by Ormond, and following out their own tastes, the citizens in the next year made an inroad into Scotland, at St. Ninian's, "where they behaved valiantly," and returning home again renewed their skirmishes with the neigh- bouring Irish. In consequence of these displays of valour, Henry ordered, in 1407, that " the ii*i * The scene of this fight for centuries was called, "Bloody Bank," 'tis now " Sunny Bank." 70 ART MAO MURROGH. ! II ^ f I A.D. 1408. mayor for the time being and his successors for ever " should bear before them a gilded sword, in the same manner as the mayors of London, and for the honour of the king, his heirs and faithful subjects of that city.* Nor were the Dublinians alone in their hardy activity. The Prior of Conal, in Kildare, falling on a party of the Irish marching by his abbey, slew, it is said, two hundred of them on the plain near Conal. But the vengeance of Leinster's king did not sleep. The English of Wex- ford had been ever since the invasion the most doggedly opposed to native rulers. Every dwell- ing of a settler in that district was fortified. From Cnoc-Howlin six-and-thirty such " castles" have been counted in a day by old men still alive, and from Ferns to the sea they were sown as thickly, with the exception of th-e districts of Silmaliere and Gorey. Art resolved that these unpleasant neighbours should feel his rod, and so he broke in upon them, at the head of his chosen men. He took the castle of Camolin, and re-possessed Ferns. From these he pursued the course of the Slaney to Enniscorthy, where a strong castle, erected by Raymond Le Gros, the key of all that country, stood. This also he seized and garrisoned, and it remained in the hands of his posterity for generations afterwards, "f From Enniscorthy it is likely he advanced to • Whitelaw's «« Dublin," Vol. I. p. 178. t In 1460, Donald, King of Leinster, founded the Franciscan Friary, at Enniscorthy. ART MAG MURROGH. 71 Wexford town and captured it, as we hear of it no more either as a sea port or borough in the annals of " the Pale" until the sixteenth century. Whatever castles or towns he did not garrison or retain, he "burned and plundered,"* doing the work of re-conquest effectually. Hastening northwards then, on hearing news of the English in that quarter, he took Castle- dermot, a stronghold of the clan Saxon, sacked it and carried away the spoil. Being in his neigh- bourhood, the Prior of Conal came in for a visit, the upshot of which history speaketh not. In the midst of these triumphs the news of Ormond's death reached him. He died in the station he so coveted, on the 30th of September, 1405. Ho was a brave soldier, thoroughly devoted to " the English interest," a stickler for the statute of Kilkenny, and an advocate of non-intercourse with the older Irish and all their imitators. He has been called "the great tamer of the septs," but his highest achievement seems to have been holding his own in Ossory, between Earl Desmond on the one hand, and King Art on the other. AD 1406 ^^ Ormondes death Kildare was elected Lord Justice by the council, out of which election grows a singular sequel. As soon as his election was known in England, the Lord Thomas, the king's son, paid a flying visit to Dublin, superseded him in his new office, and appointed Sir Stephen Scroope his deputy. Kildare hid his wounded pride as best ♦ Four Masters, a.d. 1404. m^ 111! m ill I % i. .'■ '^ ¥m '\ 72 ART MAO MUBROGH. Il he might, and in 1408, on Lord Thomas's re- turn, he rode with three of his family towards Carlingford to meet him. But the Lord Lieute- nant ordered him to be arrested, his castles ran- sacked of their plate, rich stuffs, and gold, and himself confined in Dublin Castle until he paid a fine of 300 marks. It is from this event, per- haps, that the partizanship of the Kildares for the Yorkist claimants of the English crown may be dated. aD ue7 ^^ ^^® interval of these visits. Sir Stephen Scroope acted as lord deputy. He had acted so tyrannically in the same capa- city before in 1401 and 1403, that his lady Margery, widow of John de Huntingfield, declared that she would not accompany him into Ireland except he undertook to change the character of his administration. This he promised and per- fc^med. He " recovered a good opinion for his upright dealing, reformed his caters and pur- veyors; enriched the country; maintained a plentiful house; remission of great offences, remedies for persons endangered to the prince, pardons of lives and lands he granted so charita- bly, and so discreetly, that his name was never recited among them, without many blessings, and prayers ; and so cheerfully they were ready to serve him against the Irish upon all necessary occasions."* So truly did he practise the wise lessons of dame Margery, that we find he had reconciled the new Earl of Ormond to his father's enemy, Desmond, and induced both to join him Hollinshed Hist. Ireland, p. 66* ART MAO MUBBOGH. 73 with all their strength against MacMurrogh and his allies. Towards the end of 1407, he made all his preparations for a grand expedition. The Prior of the Knights Hospitallers of Kilmainham, another of the Butlers, also joined him, and the warlike citizens of Dublin contributed their quota of fighting men. Having arranged their strength they marched out on the 14th of September for Carlow, taking the way of Kildare. When the Irish of Desmond and their Anglo-Irish friends heard of this expedition they marched towards Leinster to support MacMurrogh, and advancing by way of Ely, they joined Teige O^CarroU, the lord of that country, but continuing their route, they were met by Scroope, Desmond, and Or- mond, defeated, and O'CarroU was slain.* The deputy then continued his march onwards towards Kilkenny, and from thence along the Nore towards MacMurrogh's patrimony; six miles from Callan they met with that dauntless prince, himself, accompanied by his marshal, O'Kolan, his brave son. Art, and other staunch friends. A battle ensued. According to the English accounts the Irish had the victory "in the former part of the day," but some captains of Meath, allies of the English, who came up, turned the tide against MacMurrogh. Yet while this is told, we hear immediately after, that the Lord Deputy and the earls retreated to Callan, where they put to the sword, the greater part of a host from Leix and Offaly, advancing to assist the enemy. And the sun, it is told, stood still * Four Masters, a.d. 1407. it Hi 1 s *> • Kid.: Sii,:'. « ( j ' t 74 ART MAO MBRROOH. ! U. I i for several hours, while these Joshuas of " the Pale'^ emerged from the Ajalon of their disasters. In this battle the heir of O'Nolan was slain on the part of the Irish, but the names of those wh fell among the English have not been recorded.* Scroope retreated to Kilkenny, now strongly fortified by new walls and towers> and which alone of all the inland towns of Leinster could be called a garrison of the English. All Art's power and skill did not enable him to wrest the ancient city of Saint Canice from the warlike and watch- ful Ormonds. From Kilkenny Scroope returned to Dublin, and the king to his unconquered home. There now became visible in Leinster a chief hardly inferior to Art himself in prowess and success. This was Murrogh O'Connor, the descendant of the elder born son of Cahir More, and the chosen chief of the land of Offaly. We caught a glimpse of him earlier in this narrative as the keeper of the captive Earl of Kildare, v^hose misfortune seems to have been, to be out of favour on all sides. We are now to know him as the confirmed enemy of the English, both old and new. In 1406, his heir was slain in battle with the Berminghams, which did not decrease his hostility to their race. In Meath these Ber- minghams, with the D'Altons, Merewards, Tuites, Flemings, and other foreigners, had taken to themselves, by the strong hand, some of the best tracts of land. They were the advanced guard of invasion, threatening the west and northj and * Ware — Annals of Ireland, reign Henry IV. ' VaV«ll ART MAO MURROGH. 75 ftho Iters. their granaries supplied all the wants of " the Palo." While, therefore, King Art undertook to clear all Leinster, south of the Liffey, of intruders, Murrogh determined that Meath — the patrimony of the old Ard-Righs of Erin — should not be abandoned to them without a struggle. How he carried out his resolution we will see presently. A D U08 E^J'ly iJ^ this yes-r a pestilence raged * in Ireland. With impartial virulence it carried off the rich and the poor. Sir Stephen Scroope was at Castledermot, whither, perhaps, he had retreated from the tainted air of the close capital. He was in his forty-eighth year, high in favour with his new sovereign, and his sons. But death will snatch the courtier from the lad- der of ambition, even though his hand be at the top. On the 10th of February, the festival of St. Marcellus the martyr, he died of the distem- per, leaving the wise Lady Margery again a widow. On Lammas day, in the same year, the Lord Thomas of Lancaster, Seneschal of Eng- land, landed at Carlingford, arrested the Earl of Kildare as before mentioned, and assumed the government. He was an able and resolute prince, well worthy of being the grandson of Glos'ter and the brother of Henry. His commission as Lord Lieutenant was now dated for seven years ; for which time he stipulated to receive, as an income, the sum of seven thousand marks.* Indeed nothing more strikingly illustrates the reduced ♦Whitelaw's Dublin— Table of Chief Governors. Vol. I. ( ' 76 ART MAC MURROQH. it state of the " English interest " at this period than the habit of chief governors stipulating for resources before they undertook the office. Thus, in 1398, the Duke of Surrey made it a condition of his acceptance of it, that he should have " one man and woman out of every two parishes in England" located within **the Pale," at the king's expense ; and, in 1449, Richard, Duke of York, refused the office except on certain powers being conceded to him. The expense of main- taining even a corner of the colony at the begin- ning of the fifteenth century, is estimated by HoUingshed and Baker at thirty thousand marks per annum. The young Lord Seneschal was not destined to better this condition of things. CHAPTEE VII. The Battle of Kilraainham— Condition of Lord Thomas — He returns to England — Prior Butler Deputy — Murrogh O'Connor in Meath — Prince Art in Wex- ford — His Death — ^Escape of the Ulster Princes from Dublin Castle~Sir John Stanley Deputy— the Poet's Curse — Battle of Kilkee. AD 1408. ^^^ ^®^^® ^^ ^ ^^^ dynasDy usually aspire to distinguish themselves in the public service, so that their merits may help them to maintain a fortune to which they were not born. The Lord Thomas of Lancaster, who possessed much of his father's forethought, while he yet retained the revenue granted to him, ART MAO MURROGH. 77 swollen as it was by tho seizure of Kildare's coffers and effects, resolved to hazard one great battle with this indomitable King of Leinster, whose standard now flew within sight of Dublin Castle, unawed by the presence of a son of Eng- land. With this view, he summoned a council of the chief men of " the Pale*' to Dublin soon after his arrival; here they resolved on one more effort against MacMurrogh. It was the month of September by the time their preparations were co)nplete. At this period Alt had marched southwards towards Dublin, seemingly intending to besiege that city, or by ravaging the country within sight of its walls, to draw out the garrison to a pitched battle. His successes had given him such strength as to justify his abandonment of a defensive for an aggressive war. He was accompanied by the chiefs of the O'Nolans and O'Byrnes, and, per- haps, by Murrogh O'Connor. Descending the Dublin hills, he crossed the plain of lowlands, frightening before him the tenants of the Marches, and the people of the villages which lay between the mountains and the city, and continuing his march onwards to Kilmainham — he encamped. On the right hand the oaks of Inchicore defiled, on the left the Liffey flowed, and beyond the river rose the wooded park of the Hospitallers,* spotted with raths and cairns ; relics of the old contests of the Irish and Danes, on the same fields. Eight before him lay the Priory of St. John, and farther southward the spires of St. * Now the Phoenix Park. !l hi m i m ,'••11 it :l -J i^ 78 ART MAO MURROOH. Patrick's and St Bride's churches, the towers of Christ's Cathedral and the Castle, rose a grim background to the gated wall which stretched in his front. The Lord Thomas, resolving to give the Irish battle, divided his power into four parts — the first commanded by himself, the second by Sir Jenicho d' Artois ("the Lawless"), the third by Sir Edward Ferrers, an English knight, and the fourth by Sir Thomas Butler, the lame Prior of Kilmainham. The English then marched out in two divisions ; the one passing through Oxman- town and the Park, to the left bank of the Liflfey, and the other passing on by the walls of the Priory of St. John to the scene of action. The numbers engaged on cither side could not have been less than twelve or fifteen thousand men. The battle was long and violently con- tested. The thickest of the fight was on the river side, which obtained, from the slaughter of that day, the name of Athcroe, which signifies in Irish " the ford of blood." The Lord Thomas was dangerously wounded, and carried into Dublin. Jenicho, Perrers, and Butler continued the battle ; but they only protracted their own defeat. The English were totally routed, and the victors bending their swords across their knees, threw them in a heap into the earth.* * In the excavations carried on at Kihnainham in 1846, for the laying of the South Western Kail way, a great number of swords, bent in two, were dug up. Mr. Petrie explained this circumstance, as stated in the text, in a paper read before the Royal Irish Academy, ART MAO MURROOn. 79 But the ^"^sh wero unprepared for the siege of so strong u city as Dublin ; which, indeed, was, at the time, one of the best fortified places in Western Europe. They, therefore, buried their dead, demolished some castles in the plains, and, rejoicing in their victory, recrossed the mountains. The names of the slain of either side have not been recorded, with the exception of Hitsin (Hudson) Tuite, a rich Methian captain, who fell on the side of the English. The condition of the English interest was now precarious in the extreme. Some courtiers of the Lord Thomas wrote a letter of appeal to his father, in which they give this account of that viceroy's dangers and difficulties: — "His soldiers have deserted him ; the people of his houseliold are on the point of leaving him ; and though they were willing to remain, our lord is not able to keep them together ; our said lord, your son, is so destitute of money, that he hath not a penny in the world, nor a penny can he get credit for."* Such was the situation of the king's son, who had lately come over with 7,000 marks, and who had added to that large resource the spoils and ransom money of the Lord of Kildare. Before the year was at an end, he in whose museum these swords are now preserved. The style of their workmanship shows them to be Mediaeval, and I have no doubt they are the very same taken by MacMurrogh and his allies, from the English, in this battle. More recently many other relics of the battle have been discovered in the neighbourhood of Island Bridge, and are now in the lloyal Irish Academy. * Bibl., Cotton. MS. Titus, B. XI., folio 22. 1 . 1 ,*■ « '/ i r 1 ! ■jt 80 ART MAO MURROGH. H returned to England, pleading his wounds as an excuse for his absence.* He became apparently reconciled to Kildare, but he left as his deputy, Prior Butler, who for five years continued in that ofl&ce, guarding with armed hand, by day and night, the last relics of the English power in Leinster. This warlike hospitaller was an illegitimate son of the late valiant Earl of Ormond, who, having been lame from his birth, was surnamed Baccagh. Like Falconbridge, he turned out none the worse soldier, that he was not better begotten. A.D. 1410, From the day Lord Thomas of Lan- aud 1413. caster abandoned the government, all Leinster — that is, within the ancient bounds — was given up to MacMurrogh, except the circle walled in about Dublin. The Ormonds and the English of Wexford, still held their grounds ; but it was by virtue of compacts with the Irish chiefs, and on condition of having no corres- pondence with the enemy. But the English had still great power and possessions in Meath, and had of late acquired considerable lands in Uriel (Louth) under the auspices of the Abbots of Meliifont and the Berminghams. It was, therefore, deemed the best policy to leave MacMurrogh unmolested in his dominions, f nd to endeavour to keep Meath and Louth, within " the Pale." The great oppo- nent of this policy was Murrogh O'Connor of Offaly. He had gained many battles and lost two or three sons in his former wars with the • Ilarris's Dublin, a.d. 1408. ART MAC MUTlROnn. 81 is as an 'parently deputy, nued in by day h. power was an Earl of is birth, idge, he he was of Lan- Lont, all )unds — 16 circle and the rounds ; e Irish corres- er and cquired ier the nd the ed the 5sted in Meath t oppo- inor of id lost ith the English, but he still was as intent on his design as he had been years before. During the entire of Thomas Baccagh's Deputyship, he was in arms with his allies the MacGeoghegans of Westmeath. He took many castles and plun- dered many towns of the enemy, holding their prisoners to ransom, or carrying off their flocks. In 1411 ho took prisoners, and took ransom for the English sheriff of Meath, and somewhat later defeated the Lord Deputy and the Meathians in a pitched battle. But his great victory was the battle of Kil-Echain, fought on the 10th day of May, 1414. In this engagement FetTgal Roe MacGeoghegan was as usual his comrade. All the power of the English, out of Dublin, was arrayed against him. Sir Thomas Mereward, Baron of Screen, " and a great many officers, and common soldiers were slain," and among the prisoners was Christopher Fleming, son of the Baron of Slane, for whom a ransom of 1400 marks was paid; the omnipresent Jenicho d' Artois who with the others taken, paid " twelve hundred marks besides a reward and fine for intercession."* A very profitable affair of a victory to Murrogh O'Connor was this battle of Kil-Echain. f Art MacMurrogh was resting his limbs from the toils of war, in his princely castles of Bally- moon and Ballyloughan, while these events were transpiring north vvards. His rent was paid in * Four Masters, a.d. 1414. t Supposed to be Kiliucan in Westmeath. V ■' : t r I ill h 'i I CI: p' > * if ' i 82 ART MAC MURROGH. 1 i regularly, and so he had nothing to complain of as against the Palesmen. But his suffragan chiefs in the Wicklow mountains were not so left at ease. In consequence of some blows given and taken along the matches, Thomas Bac(3agh, in 1410, marched at the head of 1,500 kerne into O'Byrne's country. He was sustained by Kobert Gailen, mayor of Dublin, with the valiant train- bands of the city, in whose ranks served John Derpatrick, and other eminent burgesses. When they met the fierce clan Ranelagh, 800 of the kernes, vlike true Swiss, deserted the Deputy, so that the Palesmen immediately retreated. In this retreat they lost John Derpatrick, and some others of less note. In the same year a parliament sat in Dublin for thirteen weeks deliberating on the condition of " the English interest," but none of its records have been permitted to survive. Three years later the citizens cf Dublin fared even worse at O'Byrne's hands than before, in another expedition they made into his country. Henry the Fifth was proclaimed King of England in the spring of the year 1413. As he had served in Ireland under Richard, and as, during his brother's viceroyalty, the affairs of "the Pale" must have been his constant study, so we are not surprised to find V.im directing earnest attentions to the preserva- tion of the English interest. In some old MS., it is asserted he landed here, at Clontarf, in the year of his accession, but this is, no doubt, a false A.D. 1413. ART MAC MURROGH. 83 entry, for the landing of Stanley, his deputy.* France and not Ireland was his theatre, but while his first act was to quarter thQjleur de lis. Ids second was to confirm all charters and grants formerly made to monasteries in the Englidi interest, to invite over the Anglo-Irish lords to his court, and to induce them to bring back with them all the English they could induce to volunteer on the adventure, Desmond and Ormond were among his earliest visitors, and both, by his skill and hospitdity, he secured to his side. The English of Wexford, who had also, no doubt, received an accession of numbers by emigration, thinking that King Art was grow- ing old and feeble, began to be troublesome to the restored native clans. To chastise them. Prince Art was sent by his father into their territories, who, in a battle of which the field is not laid down, "slew and took prisoners great numbers of them." After this campaign the young prince returned to his home, and in the succeeding year, greatly to his father's grief, died. In this year, Hugh, son of Henry O'Neill, who had been* ten years a prisoner in Dublin Castle, escaped from that dreary bondage, and with him escaped also the son of his brother, and the son of MacGuire of Fermanagh. A new element of wrath to England was thus cast into the angry bosom of the north, and in time, these ii •fl )i ml « t !i ;t » n I I) ill 1 > M Hf If • Whitelaw and Walsh's Dublin, vol. I. p. 178. 84 ART MAC MUnnOGH. ^ >ii ■ iil6 ! ♦■*. '• I long shackled convicts wrought woe to their captors. It was also in this year that Henry the Fifth created Thomas Baccagh, Earl of Kilmain,* and called him abroad to take part in his French wars ; and the warlike Prior, at the head of six- teen hundred men, obeyed, followed Henry into France, and having served the king faithfully for six years, in that eventful service, died and was buried in France. Sir John Stanley, ancestor to the Earls of Derby, was appointed to succeed him. Stanley landed at Clontarf in October, and began a reign as evil as it was short. He is characterised by the Irish annalists as a monster, infamous for his cruelty and irreligion. He continued in the administration little more than two months. The cause and manner of his death are so singularly recounted by the simple- minded masters of Donegal, that we had best let them tell it for us ! " John Stanley came to Ireland as the King of England's viceroy, a man who gave neither toleration nor termon (sanctuary) to ecclesiastics, laymen, or literary men, but all with whom he came in contact he subjected to cold, hardship, and famine ; and he it was who plundered Niall, son of Hugh O'Higgin, at Uisneach of Meath (Westmeath) ; but Henry D'Alton plundered James Tuite and the king's people, and gave to the 0*Higgins a cow instead of each cow of which they had been plundered, and afterwards * Collinfl*s Peerage, by Brydges, vol. III., p. 10. /. ,11 IS ART MAO MURROGH. 85 11 escorted them into Connaught ; the O^Higgins, on account of Niall, then satirized John Stanley, who only lived five weeks after the satirizing, having died from the venom of the satires ; this was the second instance of the poetic influence of Niall O'Higgin's satires, the first having been the clan Conway turning grey the night they plundered Niall at Cladain, and the second the death of John Stanley."* After Stanley's death, Cranley, the old Arch- bishop of Dublin, acted as Lord Commissioner until Henry, who was then abroad, could appoint his successor. During the few months the Arch- bishop held this office, the only remarkable event was a battle between the English and Irish of Kildare, fought at Kilkee, on the little river Greece, in the barony of Kilkea. Cranley was * Stanley died at Ardee, January 6tb, 1414, This belief in the power of a seeming weak poet to avenge himself by song, oould only have prevailed among a poetic people. Some similar idea existed among the early Greeks, if we are to interpret literally the lines of the Odyssey : — ** King, to mercy he thy soul inclined, And spare the poet's ever gentle kind : A deed like this thy future fame would wrong. For dear to gods and men ia sacred song.** In Ireland it was of very early origin. The oppro- brious name Kinsella^h, was given to an early Lein- ster king who had offered outrage to a poet, a crime of equal or greater magnitude, in the opinion of those times, than outrage even to a priest. The living poeta of Ireland do not seem to inherit the virus with tha harp. If poetic curses now had power to kill, woe to our oppressors ! n (H I Ii 86 ART MAO MURROGH. i|) ! 'I at the time at Gastledermot ; and before the English set out, he exhorted them to do good service on the enemy, and promised that while they were absent against the Amalekites, he, like Moses of old, would be praying for their victory. He then gave them his benediction, and they set out. The Irish who opposed them seem to have been somepetty sections of clans, led by no name of mark. Thoy were neither MacMurrogh's men, nor the Calvach O'Connor Faily's, nor of the Wick- low tribes. They were probably some of the O'Dempseys or O'Dunns of the Barrow-side. They lost 100 men on the occasion ; the English loss is untold. The latter claimed the victory, and the archbishop had Te Deum chanted in its honour at Gastledermot. The archbishop was superseded in his commissionership the following February, by Sir John Talbot, of Hallamshire, who had obtained, through marriage with the daughter of Thomas Nevil, Lord Furnival, that title and afterwards became Earl of Shrews- bury, and was ** Created, for his rare success in arms, Great Earl of Wexford, Waterford, and Valence ; Lord Talbot of Goodrig and Urchinfield, Lord Strange of Black-mere, Lord Verdun of Alton, Lord Cromwell of Wingfield, Lord Furnival of Shef- field, The thrice victorious Lord of Falconhridge j Knight of the noble Order of St. George, Worthy St. Michael, and the Golden fleece ; Great Seneschal to Henry the Sixth, Of all his wars within the realm of France." ART MAO MUBBOOH. 87 CHAPTER VIII. The Lieutenancy of Lord Talbot— The Wars of the Eng- lish in Ireland among themselves — Art MacMurrogh in "Wexford— Murrogh O'Connor in Meath — The Wars of the Irish among themselves — Death of Art MacMurrogh— His Character — An Elegy— Conclu- sion. AD 1416 T-^^O'^j ^^^ ^^^ assumed the ma- nagement of the English interest in Ireland, was, perhaps, the most energetic man to whom the charge had been confided since the Red Earl's days. Between forty and fifty years of age, he possessed all the impetuosity of youth, and all its endurance of fatigues. He had been a soldier from his childhood, and his whole life was a battle. With a resolute will, and a clear capacity for his profession, he united the com- pletest unscrupulousness as to the means he might use to ensure success. To conquer, by deceit or treachery, was to his mind as legitimate as to conquer by open force in a fair field. In the last year of Henry the Fourth's reign, he had been appointed to this office, but had not come over. In the first year of Henry the Fifth's reign, he was, for some offence, unrecorded, committed prisoner to the tower, but was soon released, and re-invested with the hazardous command in Ire- land. Talbot, acting on the policy of Thomas Baccagh and Stanley, gave up, as lost, the counties of Leinster proper, and directed all his attention to securing the settlers in Meath and Louth, lately I m ill > hi « n4 ' 11 i 88 ART MAO MURROGH. endangered by the victories of Murrogh O'Con- nor over their chiefs. V/ith this view, he marched directly into Leix, of O'Moore,* where he took some castles from the chiefs of that clan. He then made a circuit, plundering and destroying as he went. To show himself satire proof, as well, perhaps, as from motives of policy, he visited with particular severity the bards who had the misfor- tune to fall into his hands. Amongst other bards, he plundered " Dermod O'Daly of Meath, Hugh Oge Magrath, Duvthach MacKeogh the learned, and Maurice O'Daly" — he does not appear to have come " into contact with Nial O'Higgin, of the mortal maledictions." Kor did the descend- ants of the old English fare better at his hands than the mere Irish. He " spoiled and plun- dered MacBreathnach (Walsh) and hanged Ger- ald, the son of Thomas Caoch (Blind), of the blood of the Geraldines.^f He concluded this circuit, his first, by carrying away great preys of cows, horses, and other property, from Oriel. However brave and prosperous such a gover- nor as this might be, he was little to be feared by a prince so strong in fame and in fact as Art MacMurrogh. Their policy that could have called him again into the hemmed-in and castellated Pale, should have been of a subtler sort. If Tal- bot had laboured to unite the English by blood, and the English by birth — if he had tempered mercy with severity — if he had made great plans before he showed his valour — ^the old lion of Leinster should, perforce, again issue from his * Queen's County, f Four Masters; a,d. 1415. ART MAO MUIIROGH. 89 forest home. But the new governor fought with- out a design, except amassing booty, discriminat- ing not between friends, rebels, and enemies, as the statute of Kilkenny requires, and making more foes in one day than he could subdue in seven. Before he was five months in the govern- ment, he was recalled to England to answer for his conduct ; but he was restored immediately, and soon after, his brother Eichard, being appointed Archbishop of Di'blin, raised him up new strength in that city. In each succeeding year he made " a circuit " into the interior generally by the same route, west and north, plundering bards, minor chiefs, and churches, sparing " neither saint nor sane- tuary."* It was his custom to return to Dublin, after these forays, where he exacted with a high hand whatever he wanted for his household. When, at the close of his first lieutenancy he returned to England, he carried along with him, according to a chronicler of the Palesmen — " the curses of many, because he, being run much in debt for victuals, and divers other things, would pay little or nothing at all."t Such a vice- roy was only dangerous to the interests he repre- sented. Indeed, so entirely had the English in Ireland escaped from civil government, that they seemed to have universally conspired against their own code. The 27th clause of the statute of Kilkenny had enacted their private wars to be high treason, * Four Masters, a.d. 1415. t Marlburgh, Chronicle. II h m I ( k 1 fs r I li 90 ART MAO MURROGH. t ^ but now they were all traitors. Thus, John Mac- Costello warred on Edmond of the Plain, and slew him with a javelin ; and thus Edmond Burke warred on Bermingham in Galway, took him prisoner, and confined him in the town of Loughmask.* Indeed, the English in Ireland at this time were fallen completely away from the Norman combination and discipline which had distinguished them down to the end of the middle of the 12th century, and which William de Burgo, and Clarence, his law-making heir, strove so sedulously to restore. They were Nor- mans in clans. Hence their internal quarrels were often more fatal to them than those of the more forgiving and less perfectly armed old Irish. Hence, we hear of all the bearers of a name, save one, cut oflFin battle, and of many fine old families extinguished by other families, whose founders and their founders had crossed over to the Inva- sion in the same galley. Among the English in Ireland who held most compactly together, and took every new advantage that offered to make war upon the enemy, those of Wexford were con- spicuous for their adhesiveness, energy, and cour- age. These, thinking the time for revolt pro- pitious, while the king still mourned over his dead heir, rose in their strength, and proceeded to attack his strongholds in their country. But Art, though advanced in years, was not to be so easily thrown off. Furlongs, Devereuxes, and Synnots, were not yet able to cope with A.D. 1416. • Four Masters, a.d. 1416. ART MAO MTJRROGH. 91 the conqueror of Kells and Kilmainham. Gather- ing together the veterans of his former wars, and his new levies, he marched rapidly into Wex- ford, and having " slain and taken prisoners seven- teen score of them, they made peace with him on the following day."* From this campaign he retired to Ross, now re-edified, and a dwelling fit for a king, with his chief Brehon, his second son, Prince Donogh, and his other friends and officers, to spend the sixtieth Christmas of his life. "While King Arb was thus engaged in Wex- ford, Murrogh O'Connor was not idle. As Talbot did not venture into his patrimony, and as he was unwilling to let the deputy have it all his own way, he arranged his forces, and marched into Meath. The English of that district, anxious to redeem the disgrace of Kil-Echain, advanced to meet him. The scene of their conflict is now unknown. It was fought towards the close of the year, and Murrogh was again the victor, and took from his enemies "much property, in- cluding horses, accoutrements, and also pri- soners." f Truly, the Calvach O'Connor Faiiy is as wise as he is valiant — a weigher of chances and a measurer of means. He never goes out to battle but he comes home victor. The armour and the horses he takes in one field he uses in another. Gold, they say, gathers gold, and ran- som seems to bring ransoms to him. A discreet. * Four Masters, 1416. t Four Masters, 1416. Hi III iiiti » I ), < e II ", 92 ART MAO MURROOH. 5; I i: bold, powerful, prosperous defender of his people is Murrogh. Long may his life-bestowing splen- dour shine upon (Maly 1 But, alas I every province in Ireland had not then its Art and its Murrogh ; and almost since the year when St. Ruadan cursed Tara, except in Brian's time — at least, since Roderick had dis- graced the monarchy — the only native policy known in Ireland was strictly provincial. But the royal hill, and the Feis, and the Ard-righ being all abandoned, oven the provincial policy degenerated into the clashing of factions. The sulfragan chiefs drew their swords against their kings, gossip shed the blood of gossip and neigh- bour fought against neighbour. Cotemporanecus with these very events in Leinster and Meath, Connaught and Ulster were being rent with civil war. Thus, we read that Hugh O'Malley warred on Dermod O'Malley, and Dermod slew him in the island of Umalia, that the sons of Dermod Dhuv O'Elaherty were taken prisoners, and slain by their own kinsmen, and the Giolla Dhuv O'Fla- herty ; thus, that Tomaltach O'Beirne, warring on Fergal MacRannall, fell in battle by night ; that two sects of the O'Rourkes fought, and slew men of each other's party at Pettigo in Ferma- nagh ; and thus, also, that O'Neill warred on Naghtan O'Donnell and the Tirconnellians, broke their camp at Carnglass, and took prisoners and booty of them. Alas ! the heroism of Ireland has nearly always been remedial — seldom conservative. Many of our true soldiers have bravely warred against the policy of the invaders, when already settled within their borders ; how few like Brian ( I ART MAO MTJRROOH. 93 faced them on the shore, to drive them back into their ships I Merry were the Christmas Days in the halls of Eoss-Mac-Bruin. And the long nights fled like shadows before the nightly rising sun of hospitality. Bards from far and near had come to sit by the king^s hearth, and sing at his board, during the festival — for as tru« steel attracts the fire of heaven, so true heroism over attracts the true poet. Story-tellers, Fileas, each with a thousand tales are there, talcs, some of which yet lingering amongst us, speak the luxuriant imagination, and the abounding humour of the national genius. There are fat beeves from the lowknds of Contae Riavach — and sheep from the hills of Catlierlough — and honey from the Barrow side, and cheese, ale, and usquebaugh, the makings of the place. And there, too, are bright foreign wines and fruits, for if Henry has his king's merchant at "VVatorford, shall not Art have his merchant at Ross 1 Many and embold- ening were the recollections recalled of the past I many and sanguine the hopes formed of the future 1 A D 1417 "^^^ second morning of the new year came. Consternation was on every face in and about the' royal residence. O'Doran, the Chief Brehon of licinster, the mirror of justice and fountain of wisdom, has been found dead. But a deeper shade comes on every face, and a more fearful hush stills every voice — the king, too, Art MacMurrogh himself, has also died on the same day, and nearly at the same hour. This strange coincidence caused in many , I'll h III ID I; • I l» "I- ^'1 iJ ( < I 94 ART MAC MURROGH. minds the opinion that the king and the chief Brehon had been poisoned, and that some artful emissary of the English was at the bottom of the conspiracy, which, thus, at one blow deprived Leinster of the oracle and the executor of her laws, of her lamp of equity, and her shield of defence.* A few lines devoted to the character of Art, may not be amiss, as a conclusion to his history. In the opinion of the writer he was a great hero and a great Irishman, and for these among other reasons: — When his allies deserted him, over- awed by the strength of Eichard, he alone held a consistent and ijidependent course ; when the Leinster Irish were threatened with extermina- tion, he armed them, trained them, and set them an example of defensive warfare, by following which, they and their children held their native fields unfettered for two hundred years after- wards ; because that, while he claimed the rank of king, he executed its duties in peace, and • The following is the entry of the event in the Four Masters, a.d. 1417 : — '* Art Cavenagh, King of Leinster, the son of Art, son of Murtogh, son of Maurice, lord of Leinster, a man who defended his province against the English and Irish, from the age of sixteen to his 60th year ; a man distinguished for Lis hospitality, know- ledge, and feats of arms ; a man full of prosperity and royalty ; a founder of churches and monasteries by his bounty and contributions, died, after having been forty- two years in the government of Leinster, on the 7th day after Christmas ; some state that it was by drinking a poisonous draught, which a woman gave him at Boss MacBruin, and also to O'Doran the Brehon of Leinster, that both died." 1 Hi chief irtful ►fthe rived f her Id of Art, story. , hero other over- held in the mina- them owing native after- I rank 5, and e Four einster, lord of inst the is 60th know- •ity and s by his n f orty- 7th day nking a at Boss ioinster, ART MAC MURROGH. 95 never once forgot its responsibilities in war ; be- cause he rendered the statute of Kilkenny for ever inoperative in Ireland by his early and noble resistance to its edicts ; because in his time there were no civil broils among the Irish of Leinster ; because he reigned forty years, in a revolutionary and boisterous time, and no rival, of his own race, could be started in opposition to him. Standing alone, and taken merely as an his- torical personage of that age, unconnected with Ireland, his eminence is indisputable. The length of his resistance to a superior numerical power, its collateral importance in the kingdom of the enemy, its direct consequences in his own, his fame among the English writers down even to Elizabeth's time, all mark him for place in the category of the most heroic spirits of the west, in the same age — the category of Coeur de Lion and St. Louis, of Eobert Bruce, and the more than heroic La Pucelle. In the Irish history of the middle ages — from Brian's era to Hugh O'Neill's — he has no equal for prudence, foresight, perseverance, valour, and success. Many princes there are in that period, as Donald O'Brien, Cathal More O'Connor, and Shane O'Neill, of undoubted valour, and princely parts — many who were as hospitable as rich, as beneficent to the Church as terrible at times to their enemies, but none who shaped in their youth a clear path of life, and pursued it for years, over every difficulty, through every dan- ger, across every impediment, even to the end. Art's policy was to confine the English power JIm| i I *t. , ' ^U : ! iil j'5'i \l iq IH 96 ART MAC MURROGH. >l id l\ on the oast side of Ireland, to a narrow enclo- sure around Dublin, knowing that afterwards, in the lapse of time, the branches of the invasion farther inland, by non-intercourse with the parent stock, would grow into the character of the soil, and become its fondest defenders. His conquests made " the Pale" as it remained until the days of Henry VIII. The parliament of Kilkenny, in 1367, had defined the English possessions in Ireland, as " Louth, Meath, Dub- lin, Kildare, Catherlough, Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, and Tipperary," each governed by seneschals or sheriffs.* In the beginning of Henry the Sixth of England's reign (1422), Duilavan and Ballymore are mentioned as the chief keys of Dublin and Kildare — and in the succeeding reign, Callan in Uriel is set down as the chief key of that part. Dikes to keep out the enemy were made from Tallaght to Tassa- gard, at Rathconnell in Meath, and at other places in Meath and Kildare. An English state paper of the year 1515, defines "the Pale" as being "half of Louth, half of Meath, half of Kildare, and half of Dublin." These dimensions were not enlarged in Baron Finglass's time, who constantly repeats the phrase of "the four shires," as descriptive of the English possession in Ireland, in his age. So completely was this territory * Statute of Kilkenny, clause xxxi. The term " Pale" (i.e., inclosure), is also applied by some English writers to the fortified space their Plantagenet princes held in France : thus, Sir Richard Baker — " a little beyond Guisness within the English Pale'* — Chronicle, Vol. I., page 147. ART MAO HURROOH. 97 isolated from the rest of the country that in the reign of Henry VI. the Earls of Desmond and Ormond were exempted from attending its par- liaments and councils, on the grounds that they could not do so without marching through the enemy's country at great risk and inconvenience. Two English lawyers and an English soldier, Sir Edward Poynings, Baron Einglass, and Anthony St. Leger, had to commence anew in the 16th century the defeated work of conquest. They first re-enacted the statute of Kilkenny, and secured the dependence of " the Pale " par- liament (verhosely called "the Parliament of Ireland"), on that of England;* the second drafted a sapient artistic plan for the subjugation of the native Irish and the Hibernicized descendants of the old English men ;t and the latter, in 1541, in a parliament summoned at Dublin, composed of a medley mass of Irish chieftains of both bloods, English adventurers, and imported law- yers, had Henry VIII. of England elected king of Ireland. J And with this ominous name com- * Poynings was a soldier as well as a lawyer, and a statesman for his age. He secured the dependence of the ** Irish Parliament" on England, when it had no other choice but dependence, being merely the Legisla- ture of the Pale. When it grew to be national, his law was necessarily the first act repealed. t For the Baron's views of an English policy towards Ireland, see seq. J St. Leger was the first of the series of viceroys who strove to enslave the Irish in form and show of decency ; Mountjoy, Strafford, Ormond, Portland, and Gornwallis, were all copyists of his Irish policy, whether they knew it or not. i I c ! fsf J >! if w !i'>' ii 98 ART MAO MURROGH. mences our foreiga dynasty of sovereigns, of which line, as kings or queens, fifteen have exercised royal functions over this nation. Then, had another Art arisen in the east, to claim the sceptre of the island, to maintain that " the land of right belonged to him, and that the wish to deprive him of it by conquest was unlawful;" the future struggles of this people against usurped and abused authority, could never have been mistaken for vulgar riots and sanguinary rebellions. But Leinster having no such king in the 16th century, the narrow "Pale'* was broken down, and the land again overrun by the Carews and Mountjoys, who are the Strongbows and De Courcys of the second invasion. The personal and private character of Mac- Murrogh seems to have been worthy of his public greatness. He was a good father, and true friend ; a cultivator of knowledge, and a lover of letters ; a respecter of sanctuaries, and a benefactor of churches. The one want in his character Deems to us to have been— perhaps it is only seemiixg — that he did not regard or work for Ireland as an entity, as a nation : but much might be said in account- ing for this want — so much, indeed, that we will not pretend to say it. Another deficiency in his policy may appear to others his want of suffi- '^ient rigour on the Palesmen, when he had them in his power; but we must remember that it was not his desire to exterminate, but rather to limit and cripple effectually their power. Ireland was large, and but thinly peopled. England was near, and if roused to the last exertions for ART MAO MUBROGH. 99 the safety of her plantation, could have sent over a dozen armies as great as Eichard's. Wex- ford held many rebels, and the Anglican sea- port of Waterford could, to a certain extent, command the entrance to the Barrow, the Western frontier of his dominions. We have claimed for Art MacMurrogh this credit — that he is the chief Irish hero from Brian's time to Hugh O'Neiirs. This conceded, it will not be denied that he ranks the first of Leinster's latter kings in genius and in virtue — that he fully vindicated his name from the dis- grace cast upon it by the treason of Dermidh, and fully avenged his people for the injury and the insults attempted to be inflicted upon them by the statute of Kilkenny. The following stanzas may not inappropriately close this too brief biography : — * I. From the King's home rose a hum Itike the rising of a swarm, And it spread round Ross and grew Loud and hoding as a storm ; And from the many-gated town passed Easchlaghsf in aflfright, Pale as the morning hours when rushing forth from ni£^'ht, And north, east, south, and westward as they sped, They cried, " The King is dead !"— " The King is dead !" • These verses were published in the Nation, 13th March, 1847. •f Easchlagh— a courier among the Gadelians, who was often a female. The word is pronounced nearly as if it were written asla. hi ill. I rh M I m »! 1 mi ' m ■Vi: «|ii: • % r 1 li il\ vach, the same night of his capture, managed to escape, safely reach the forests of Offaly with his companions, and, for two years more, warred upon the English, until death called him from earth to judgment. King Donogh was carried tn London by Talbot, and confined in the Tower. Here he languished for nine weary years. At length, in 1428, Talbot, having "got licence to make the best of him,"* held him to ransom. The people of his own province released him, " which was joyful news to the Irish. "f During his imprisonment, Gerald Kavanagh was actual king of Leinster, but he made way at once for Donogh on his return home. Donogh now became a thorn in the side of the enemy — quickened, no doubt, by recent ill- treatment. In 1431, being joined by Mac- an-Mhidigh O'Brien and the sons of O'Connor Kerry, he made a descent upon Dublin, and fought 1 *vo battles with the Palesmen. He was successful in the first, but was worsted in the second, in which also the chief of the O'Tuathals was taken prisoner. In this year Gerald Kava- nagh, Tanist of Leinster, who had been king — " a man distinguished by his hospitality and feats of arms" — died. In 1432, Donogh renewed his incursions on the English settlers, who gathered an army against him, which army he routed, slaying Walter Tobin and many more. He also paid a visit to his refractory vassals of Wexford, who had slain Murtogh Kavanagh, one of his * Collins* Peerage by Brydges, vol. III., p, 12. t Four Masters, a.d. U2». ART MAO MURROGH. 106 of / sons, and had required his followers to give host- ages. He obliged the Wexford men to restore the hostages, and to pay 800 marks, as an eric for Murtogh's death. In 1444, the sons of Gerald Kavanagh, the deceased Tanist, in some quarrel about the succession, rose against their king, and were backed by the O'Byrnes and O'Tuathals. Donogh, on his side, was supported by the remainder of his subjects, and the son of the O'Connor Faily. The question then seems to have been adjusted by the sons of Gerald, who surprised and took prisoner the O'Connor on his way homeward, he having but few men of his company. In 1445, these Kavanaghs fought against the common enemy, the English, in Leinster and Munster ; but the dispute of the succession being again resumed in 1446, King Donogh was slain in battle, sustaining the claims of their opponents. * Of the daughters of D onogh, one was married to O'Neill, and another to James, Earl of Ormond. 0'l!»reill repudiated his wife to take another, but, in 1452, the Earl induced him to separate himself from the second wife, and to restore the first. The name of this misused lady was Gormley. She died in 1465. On another lady of this family, who lived pro- bably about this time, the celebrated melody of "Aileen a Eoon" was composed. The author was Carol O'Daly, one of the silver-tongued bards of Ulster — himself of a high chieftain house. He had devoted himself to his mistress as much HI { : c!: » i ! .> 1 I , if ♦ From this time downwards we notice two separate streams, each of the royal name. 106 ART MAO MURROOB. !■! as to poetry; but being forbidden to visit her father's house, he remained long absent, while the lady, ignorant of the true cause, was led to believe that he had proved faithless, and was wed to another. In despair or disgust at this infidelity, she was about to follow his example. It was the eve of her marriage, and many of the guests had already arrived to do honour to the wedding. Among the unbidden number, who also, according to ancient custom, entered at the open gate, came Carol O'Daly, disguised as a harper. There was music and a dance, and the stranger harper sung so meaning and so sad a soni?, that the lady discovered him beneath his dis^ise, and that night fled with him into Munster.* * The now univenal phrase, Cead Mille Failte, seems to have been first used in this beautiful lyric. Furlong translates it : — <* A hundred thousand welcomes, Eileen a Boon I A hundred thousand welco. .3, Eileen a Boon I Oh ! welcomes ever more, With welcomes yet in store, Till love and life are o'er, Eileen a Boon !'* There are several imitations of this song, two espe- cially by Munstermen, one of the 17th century, and one by the late Thomas Davis.^ The quaint Scotch song, '* Bobin Adair,'' is also an imitation of it. Adair was in ancestor of the Molesworths, and lived at Hollypark, Go. Dublin, about a century back. Bums admired the melody greatly, and Handel was enthusiastically fond of it. ART MAO IflTRROOH. 107 W Xing Donogh was succeeded by Donald, who reigned until the year 1476, in which year, on the 21st of April, he died. He was one of the sons of Gerald Kavanagh, and was called Eia- vach, perhaps from having been grey early in life. In his time churches and castles were restored, and much, that had been endangered in the latter years of Ponogh's reign, was made secure. He was pa, ^.icularly watchful of the Wexford rebels. Art, a younger son of King Donogh's, succeeded to Donald, and continued on the throne until the first quarter of the suc- ceeding century. At his death, his son Cahir succeeded. In 1541, when the Deputy St. Leger got together his " Great Court," at which Henry the Eighth of England was proclaimed King of Ireland, no man of any consequence, " of the blood of Mac- Murrogh," attended. These, and the Irish of the west and south-west, were unrepresented in that memorable assembly; but nearly all tho other parts of Ireland were fully represented. King Art, at this time, lived at Polmonty. But Gerald, the grandson of Gerald Kavanagh, who lived at Garryhill, also claimed the crown. A pitched battle was fought by the rivals, and, after about a hundred men on each side were killed, Gerald submitted. In 1546, Cahir was paid up all arrears due to him as Black Kent, for the toleration of " the Pale."* In the succeed- ing year, and in '49, he was at war with Sir William Brabazon, Lord Deputy; but, being i ( )< ii If :> * Camden, vol. iii., p. 481. 'is s - L 108 ART MAO MURROGH. beaten, he made peace with the deputy, went to Dublin, and there, on the 4th of November, 1650, in the presence of the Earls Desmond, Thomond, Clanrickarde, and Tyrone, and the Lords Mountgarrett, Dunboyne, Cahir, and Ibraccan, "he renounced the title of MacMur- rogh," which, he was induced to say, "his ances- tors had usurped." Nine years had taught Cahir MacArt, that it was wiser to have lands with an English title, than perpetually warfare with an Irish one. In 1552 he was created, by letters patent; Baron of Ballian (Ballylaughan), and allowed to keep a troop of horse and a hundred foot soldiers for his own guard. After his death, his brother Dermod had the same title, with the same privileges ; but he, too, claimed and exercised the royal title of MacMurrogh. Part II. — ^Although Dermot, and others of the Kavanaghs his successors, claimed the title of MacMurrogh down to the end of this century, yet we do not find one of them who did not also accept, and sometimes use an English title. We are, therefore, to know them no more as kings, but rather as vassal lords, or rebellious chiefs. In these characters, many of them wore remark- able actors ; so important, that Baron Finglass, in his " Breviate of Ireland," or plan for the re-conquest of Ireland, sets them down as the first obstacle to the English sovereignty. He writes : — " Item, Furste, our soveraign lord the king, shuld extend his gracious power for the reformacion of Leinster, which is the key and highway for reformacion of the remanent ; and it is situated in an angle between "Waterfort and 1 1 ART MAO MURROGH. 109 t to ber, ond, the and Dublyn, wherein no more Irishmen dwell but the Kavanaghs of whom MacMurrogh is capi- taine: which cannot make horsemen pass two hundredth, and the Byrnes and Tohills, which cannot make one hundredth horsemen, besides the Irish inhabitants of their country, which be but naked men, as kerne, and who were not, in this hundredth year, more feeble to be conquered than they are now. " Item. To healpe, whereunto, the king hath on side of them the county of Wexford, wherein dwell many good English gentlemen, which would be very glad to aid thereats." And the Baron, as an inducement to the enterprise of their subjugation, enumerates the abbeys of Dunbrody, Tintern, Dowske, Grane, and Baltinglass, and the castles of Leighlin, Carlow, Eathville, Clonmore, Wexford, Ferns, Castle-Kevin, Wicklow, Arklow, Rathdown, and Powerscourt, with their lands to be taken from them and their allies, and "given by our Soveraigne Lord the Kyng, to young lords, knights, and gentlemen out of England, which shall dwell upon the same." A very pretty pro- spect of a plantation this !* In 1556, the Kavanaghs invaded Dublin, but were driven from the vicinage of the city. One hundred and forty of them retreated to Powers- court, which they gallantly defended. But Sir George Stanley coming up with some pieces of artillery, they surrendered the castle. They were conveyed to Dublin, and " seventy-five of them ' : *A li \%li 61 I J'' 1 1:. II I < < Iff 1- fa Fi:i glass, in Hanis's Hibernica, page 44, 110 ART MAO MURROGH. illi hanged in one day." This cruelty did not deter their clan, who, joining with the O'Byrnes and the other Wicklow clans, swept the plains of Leinster, carrying desolation into the homes of the English. They were now commanded by Bryan, the son of Cahir, who claimed and exer- cised the powers of MacMurrogh. These raids of vengeance over, Bryan for a time was at rest ; but, in 1671, being insulted by Eobert Browne of Malkenraw, he rose and slew Browne and his father-in-law, Sir Nicholas Devereux. Sir Nicholas, being a "Wexford man, the clan-Saxon of that county rose to avenge his death, and having gathered all their friends, marched to- wards Carlo w.* " Bryan, with fewer numbers. * The English of Wexford were so harassed by the Kavanaghs that large numbers of them emigrated into Wales, especially to Pembrokeshire ; thus, by a strange fortune, returning whence their fathers came, after their race for near four hundred years had been fixed in Ire- land. In a curious letter from a Pembrokeshire erentle- man of the name of Q-ruflathe, to Cardinal Wolsey, written between 1520 and '30, we found the following curious account of this colony : — ** Pleasith it youre moost noble Grace, my duetie of mooste humble recommendacions hadde unto your Grace, as apperteynyth, sygnyfyinge unto the same your moost noble Grace, that there is so gret abound- anee of Irii«8hemen latelye comyn within these xij monethes into Pembrokeshire, the Lordship of Haver- forde West, and so alongest the see syde to Saynt Davyes, and within the townes of Haverforde West, Pembroke, and Tenbye, with such that be comyn theder before and inhabited there that by estymacion do amount at the leste to the nombre of twentye thousande per- sons and above, of all maner sorte, and the mooste part of the same Raskells be out of the domynyons of the ART MAO MURHOGH. Ill contrived by superior skill and generalship to overthrow his opponents. Thirty County Wex- ford gentlemen of rank were killed on the King's Rebellyon therle of Desmond ; and verey fewe of theym out of the Englisshe pale of Irelande. And the King's Towne of Tenby e is almost cleane Irisshe as well the hedde men and ruelers a3 the comyns of the said Towne: and of their highe and presumptuous myndes doo dissohey all maner the Kings processe that comythe to theym out of the King's Eschequyer of Pembroke, supposyng that their Charter woll here them therin, where of truethe their Charter is no thyng like so large of liberties as they do clayme it to be. And one of theym caulled Germyn Gruffith, borne under the domynyon of the said Erie, is nowe owner of two great Shipps well appoynted with ordenaunces ; and it is dailye proved by experyence that fewe or none of Englysshemen or Welshemen can or be receyvyd amongs theym to anye service or wages. And the last yere 1 herde of a grete noumbre of the same Irisshemen that were cast over lande upon the cost within the said shore, whereupon I made a preveye watche, and in two little parisshes in one nyght I gadered of theym above two hundered that were newe comyn besids as monye that were comyn there before ; and all the same new Company I did sende to See agayne. Albeit, sythyn, they be comyn ogen with monye moo; and every on that comythe dothe clayme kynred to one or other of the same shire, t.wnes, and countre foresaid. And every sythyn that I expulsed the said new comyn Irisshemen out of the countre as before, the rest do grudge agaynst me. And of truethe in all the said circuete there be foure Irisshe agaynste one > nglysshe or Welshe ; and therfore, after my power mynde, it were expedyent and necessarye that the King's Highenes with his most honorable Counsaill shulde ponder the same, and devise some order to be takyn, aswel for th' avoiding of the moost parte of thym, as alsoe that noo man within that parties shall reteigne any that shall come out of Irlande thider, at any tyme herafter into hi V \ f'l t i* I ?;• 112 ART MAO MURROQlI. occasion.^'* About this time there came into Carlow, Sir Peter Carew, who claimed to be Marquis of Cork, Baron of Idrone in Carlow, Lixnaw in Kerry, and Maston in Meath. He had been a traveller from his youth ; was page to the Prince of Orange, "and had been at Constantinople in the Turk's Court, at Vienna in the Emperor's Palace, and in Paris at the French King's Court." He was a man of nearly every accomplishment, brave, witty, social, and learned. Bryan took a great liking to Carew, became his ally, and his constant guest at Leighlin, \/here Sir Peter kept a grbdt house, with one hundred servants, one hundred kerne, and forty horse, with a stall in his stable, and a seat at his board J ■ i' thair service, upon a certayne penaltye ; and ells they shall never be woren out, but increas more and more. And furden sygnyfying unto your moost noble Grace that the Mayor and Towne of Tenby have commyted and don mony great ryotts, rowtes, and unlefull assem- bles agaynst the King's lawes, his peax, crowne, and dignyte with diverse extorcions, as shall appear by divers indictaments remaynynge agaynst theym in the King's Kecords of Pembroke. And also it shall be duely proved that they have ayded and vittailed the Kyng*s enymyes at sundrye tymes, and that as shal pleas at Kyng*s Highenes and your most noble Grace to commaunde me to do, conceruyng any order that shalbe takyn concernyng the premyssis shalbe accom- plisshed with all diligence to the uttrsmost of my litle power ; as knoweth God who ever preserve your moost noble Grace in felicitie. Prom Carmerden the viij daye of this July, &o. Your Humble Servaunt, R. GRUFPITHE, To my Lord Legatis moost noble Grace. * Ryan's History Carlow, page 106. ART MAO MURROGH. 113 for every traveller who chose to halt. Carew died in 1675, and so ardently was Bryan wedded to him that 'tis said ho himself pined away and died.*^ A singular episode in the history of this family is the story of Thomas Stukely, or Kavanagh.f Like most of his family, this Thomas was sent abroad for his education, where, or on his return, he enlisted in the rising of Gerald, Earl of Des- mond, the last "^f that eminent house. Kepairing to Rome with James Fitzmaurice, the earl's brother, he was by the Pope joined in command with that Prince, created Baron of Idrone and Ross, Viscount Kinsellagh, Earl of Carlow and "Wexford, Marquis of Leinster, Vice- Admiral of the fleet, and General of the Most Holy Father in Ireland. Six hundred Italians and munitions in proportion were placed in his hands. " When ♦ Hooker, page 377. t The origin and history of Stukely are involved in much mystery, but my conjecture is that he was a MacMurrogh, at least by one side. My learned friend, Mr. O'Donovan, is also of this opinion. This accounts for the Pope investing him with the titles Idrone, Wex- ford, and Carlow, and Leinster ; the patrimony of the MacMurroghs : their clan country, and their kingdom. The Kev. 0. P. Meehan (the Geraldines, p. 77) says, it has been asserted that he was a natural son of Henry VIII. of England, probably from having been nurtured about the court of that king. If we can suppose him to have been born heir to the crown of Leinster, the heir either of Gerald Kavanagh, or King Art, or Bryan, it would account for his English tutelage and English name. When the scholars of Ireland can afford to study epicodeSi this man's true origin would be a ourious in- quiry. 1 1 n l< V :y i ART UAO M1TRR0QH. ur O'Neill, which further disgusted them. They now deposed Donnell and chose in his stead Bryan, who was the last of his house that ex- tracted the old tribute of black-rent, which he did in the year 1603 ; this Bryan lived at Bally- laughan, where he had six warders to watch and guard his castle, at the pay of eight pence per day, a troop of horse and a company of foot.* This Bryan, who seems to have been something of a politician, retained his castle and five town- lands until his death in 161^ He married first one of the Ormond family, .aid secondly Mary, daughter of Lord Loftus. He was succeeded by his sons, Art and Morgan, of the former of whom little is known. But while Bryan and the Ballylaughan line were allowed to enjoy their inheritance, their allies and kindred were being gradually decimated, and their race destroyed. In 1604, a general pardon was granted to them ; but in 1609 Car- low was granted to the Earl of Kildare. In the same year, Donagh Kavanagh and his allies were attainted. In 1610, Dowlin MacBrien Kava- nagh, and Dowlan MacMurrogh Kavanagh, had portions of their patrimony restored to them. In 1625, the sons of Fiach MacHugh were plun- dered of their inheritance, and the same year two * Donnell Spainagh, in the same year, 1603, was granted, by letters patent of the English privy council, a pension of ten shillings per day " till he recovered his rights or be better provided for." In 1612 — in his weak old age — ^he was obliged to resign his pension, and was not ** better provided for." He does not appear after- wards in the records of his age. (. I I] ii» 9)) r\y '•k :\- '■■ li •I, ■] ^1' U\ lU ■i\" 118 AKT MAO MURBOOH. of the Kavanaghs, who had been brought to Dublin, to bear witness against them, and who had not satisfied the powers in that respect, were hanged at Kilkenny. But, notwithstand- ing this, their numbers and wealth were very considerable even in the reign of Charles the First of England and Ireland, as this list — an in- quisition held early in the reign of that monarch — shows : — "General pardon to Brene M*Donogh Kava- nagh of Ballenloghan in Carlo w county, Esq., Morrogh M*Donnell Kavanagh of Carload, Donnogh M*Brien O'Birne of Old Laughlin, Dowlinge M*Murtagh O'Birne of Balliteigleigh, Morragh M*Morrice Kavanagh of Itathvilla, Philip M*Hugh O^Kena of the same, Donell Ower M*Shane O'Birne of Ballenloghan, Kichard Folan of the same, Brene O'Bolger of Eathbin- dine, Brene M 'Donell Kavanagh of Carglead, Edmond M'Tirlagh Kavanagh of Kaherin, Mortagh M'Tylagh Kavanagh of the same. Piers M'Melaughlin O'Kian of Ballengarie, Edward M'Gilpatrick O'Dowran, Morrice M'Gerrald Kavanagh of Ballelin, Thomas Butler of Clone- more, Owen M*Tirlagh O'Birne of Balli-Eian, Morrogh Eoe of Clorouske, Feige M*Morrice O'Doyle of Knockroa, Morrice M'Teige O'Doyle, Cilpatricke More O'Doyle of Knockroa, Walter Butler of Knockin, Foris M'Cavell, of Kill- grene, Edward M'Tirlagh O'Birne of Binecherie, Thaddeus Dowlinge of Old Laughlin, Morragh M 'Mortagh Kavanagh of Ballilin, Thaddeus O'Eian of Balliclere, Ulick Wale M'William of Urchlin, Teige M'Shane O'l^owlan of Boerduffe, V 4M m K ART MAO MURROQH. 119 I I Art M*Caher Kavanagh of Balleshane-Carragh, Gerrald M*Brene Kavanagh of Killenerlie, Redmond M*Mortagh 0'£ian of Bellingarie, Donell Kavanagh (otherwise Spaniagh) of Clon- mullin, Caher Kavanagh of the same, Chriffon Kavanagh of Kilbreanies, Ellenor Kavanagh of Clonmullin, Hugh M*Donell of Polmonte, BrianM*£dmond O'DonellofKilkern, Dan.Folam of Balliloghan, Donell Glas M'Tiege Owre of Rathirke, Bran M*Owen O'Brian of the Ceskran, David M*Donogh O'Rian of BalliHen, Walter O'Bolger of Ballihomulty, Cahir M*Edward Kavanagh of the Bunes, Brian M'Tirlagh (piper) of Ballipiers, James M*William Butler of Gorta- more, Fardoragh M*William O'Maccaghes, other- wise Donell O'Maccaghes, or O'Managhes, of the Boumes, all in Carlow county." The chief man of his name in this reign Was Sir Morgan, who seems to have had a good deal of the old heroic blood in his veins. He married early in life Eleanor, daughter of the second Viscount Mountgarret, by whom he had sixteen children. In 1634, he was elected one of the knights of the shire, to serve in Parliament for Catherlough, but the House declared his election null and void, and issued a new writ, on which Sir Thomas Butler was returned. JSfor was this case singular in the annals of the Parliament which wielded the jurisdiction of a kingdom in the sectarian spirit of " the Pale." Ever since 1613, the native Irish gentry inclined to seek for seats and power in that would-be Irish senate. They formed themselves into a party, to which their opponents gave the name of Recusants, and ^ •' I I .1 H "I I , ' II u -'I » I * St' tr. ;ll I »J M i be ! Ii|t i;^ a . ,1 J i : 120 ART MAO MURROQB. attempted, at various times, to get possession of the Commons House, at least. In this they were resisted by all the force and fraud of the govern- ment, the sophistry of lawyers, and the firelocks of the garrison. At last, an Irish gentleman was found to project a diflferent experiment for political power. This was Roger O'Moore, the descendant of the Princes of Leix, who, in the prime of his life, returned from Spain, where his mind, originally elevated and noble, had been well schooled in heroism, piety, and knowledge. He projected the great rising of 1641, into which he drew, on the one hand, the surviving repre- sentatives of the Irish chiefs, and the chief Recusant Lords of old English extraction. Sir Morgan Kavanagh and his father-in-law, Mountgarret, were two of his earliest and most influential allies. Sir Morgan brought with him several of the O'Byrnes, and of his own clan. He took and garrisoned, for the confederates, some places of strength in Wicklow and Carlow. He was present with O'Moore and Mountgarret in the disastrous battle of Kilrush, where he commanded the horse in part or whole. From Sir Phelim O'JS'eale's confession (made in Dublin in 1652), it appears he undertook to besiege Duncannon. The gain of this fort was, indeed, of great consequence to the confederation, as it commanded the entrances to Waterf ord and Ross, the natural ports of entry to Kilkenny, where their supreme council sat. He accordingly set out for Duncannon* by way of Wexford, and • The Diary of the Siege of Duncannon by General i I, 4i ^ ART MAO MURROOH. 121 reduced some places by the way ; but, being met by Sir William Sellenger, he was defeated. He continued in arms for the confederation until the following year. On the 13th of April, 1643, he commanded, with Lord Mountgarret and Colonel PJunkett, the Catholic army at Black-hall heath, "about twenty miles from Dublin," where an obstinate battle was fought between them and the Duke of Ormond. On this day he fell, and " his head was brought to the Duke of Ormond after the battle."* Happy Sir Morgan, who did not live to see the end of the beginning 1 Another of the family, Daniel Kavanagh, was also a distinguished confederate. When, in 1650, that great organization removed its councils and its hopes from tlio east to the west, he led his troop of horse inio Connaught, and acted under the orders of the Synod of Jamestown and the assembly at Galway. After the failure of Nicho- las French's Lorraine embassy (1652) he emi- grated to Spain with his company, and there he died soon after. A Captain Nolan — one of the old crowning house — accompanied him to Spain, returned at the restoration of Charles IL, but found his lands in possession of tho great knave Ormond, whose interest at court stifled all appeal. Major Charles Kavanagh, in Charles the Se- cond's reign, is one of the burgesses enumerated in that King's charter to the borough of Carlow. Preston, will be found in 6th Edition of Father Meehan's ** Irish Franciscan Monasteries." Dublin, Duffy & Sons. ♦ Ryan's Carlow I>. 173. t'i fill ' Ilk) I -t. ■. ■'•., ' tit , il' 1^11! t ', ft; 1 it ''' 3'- V:' 122 ART MAO MUBROQH. In the Stuart wars we note only two Kavanaghs, Bryan na Stroke, and the Eapparee, nicknamed " the White Sergeant." Bryan, whose patrimony was Drummin, was about the middle age of life when he served at the Boyne and Aughrim. At the latter, in single combat with a Williamite champion, he was wounded in the face. He lived until the 8th of February, 1735, when he died and was buried in St. Mullins. His son, James Kavanagh, of Drummin, who died in 1790, erected a handsome slab of black laarble to his memory, with a suit- able inscription. All his descendants, in life and in death, Beem to have been proud of their rela- tionship to " the renowned champion,^' Bryan na Stroke. Of the life and exploits of " the white ser- geant " we have not been able to find any record. We may assume that he was a true chivalrous Guerilla of the penal days, from the preserva- tion of his memory among his fallen race in Leinster. The chief branches of this royal race in the 17th and 18th century, were seated at Clonmullin, Garryhill, Ballylaughan, Ballymoon, Ballyrohoge, Inch, Graigue, and Borris. The Borris line conformed to the Protestant faith, and its chiefs became in succession majors of militia, candidates for parliament, and sheriffs of the county. In 1798, Walter Kavanagh, of this line, made himself unenviably conspicuous against the patriots of his neighbourhood, and had in return, his house sacked and his servants i. ART MAO MURROQH. 123 slain. The grandson of this Walter — still living — was some time member for Carlow. This crooked branch is not likely to put forth any other fruit. The sons of the non-conformist lines had either to pine in obscurity at home, or to emigrate, and serve abroad. Of these several rose to eminence in the service of Austria. Charles Kavanagh, of Bally heale, born in 1735, was for many years a distinguished officer in Austria; became a general of cavalry, and a count of the empire. In 1766, another Charles Kavanagh, cousin to the count, was governor of the very important city of Prague, in the same service. Somewhat earlier. General John Baptist Kavanagh, of the same service, was an Aulic counsellor, created Baron of Lidintz, and married Mary, daughter of Marshal Maurice Kavanagh, commander in the Polish service, and chamberlain to the King of Poland In 1795, Sir James Kavanagh, of the same family, was slain in the Austrian French war ; his son, General Baron Henry Kavanagh, is, or a few years since was, living at Vienna. This group of illustrious soldiers well deserve the attention of the military historian of our nation. In common with the O'Briens and the O'Ma- honys in the French service, the O'Eeillys and the O'Donnells in the Spanish service, and the De Lacys and Browns in the Eussian service, they have vindicated their country abroad, and linked the Irish name with the most remark- able events of continental history in modem times, as our peaceful missionaries and laborious Ok! "hi •IN'. ■I I a .1 t» ■ "Ul Hit i « »' OH' i\' i [il /! '1 124 ART MAO MUBROGH. teacners represented us in its ancient chroni- cles.* We have thus traced, down even to our own days, the descendants of Art MacMurrogh. We have seen of his house many heroic soldiers, good and beautiful women, and some few, very few, indeed, unworthy to bear his name, or feed their hearts with his blood. We have seen, how, age after age, there was not wanting a representative of his great house, in any of Ireland's struggles for liberty. At this day, Mount Leinster on the one hand, and the Barrow on the other, bounds the still princely inheritance of the Borris branch of his posterity, but the man- hood, the chivalry, the love of native land — where are they 1 * Beyond doubt the earlier of those emigrants to Austria must have carried with them some family MSS. the loss of which we now feel so much. Perhaps, the history of the race of MacMurrogh may yet receive new light from tlie archives of Vienna. My friend, Mr. Eugene Curry, is of opinion that there have been several collections of Irish poems made about this dynasty, but none are now known to exist in Ireland. s •} APPEW^DIX. DOCUMENTS ILLUSTRATING THE HISTORY OF LEINSTER. ' '1 ill! i 'II '. * !• ; •'i 3 t i'ii: f^ APPENDIX, . APPENDIX I. SUCCESSION OP THE DANISH TI-KINGS OP DUBLIN FROM THE 9rH TO THE 12tH CENTURY. 1. Amlave or Aulaffe, 2. Ivar Mac-Aulaffe, 3. Ostin Mac-Aulaffe, 4. Godfrid Mac-Ivar, 5. Sitric Mac-Ivar, 6. Aulaffe Mac-Ivar, 7. Eeginald Mac-Ivar, 8. Godfrid Mac-Eeginald, 9. Aulaffe Mac-Godfrid, 10. Blacar Mac-Godfrid, 11. Godfrid Mac-Sitric, 12. Aulaffe Mac-Sitric I., 13. Gluniaran Mac-Aulaffe, 14. Sitric Mac-Aulaffe I., [Hyman an Usurper for part of a year while Sitric was in banishment.] From. Death. Years. 853 871 18 871 872 1 872 875 3 875 888 13 888 896 8 896 896 896 ] 921 part of a year. 25 921 934 13 934 941 7 941 948 7 948 951 3 951 981 31 981 989 8 989 1029 40 1*5 'la J !■ ' ' \ 1 1 1 I ■:\ I il I: 1^ V h I! 128 APPENDIX. 15. Aulatfe Mac-Sitric II, 16. Sitric Mac-Aulaffe II., 17. Aulaffe Mac-Sitric III. ] [deposed by Godred > Crovan.] j 18. Godred Crovan, 19. Godfrid Meranagh, [Murtogh, King of Ire- land governed the Ost- men of Dublin.] 20. Torfin Mac-Torcall, 21. Donald Mac-Gillehol- ) mock, ) 22. Reginald Mac-Torcall, 23. Octer or Oiter [by others, Godfrid Mac- Olave, King of Man, Chron. Mannise.] 24. Brodar Mac-Torcall, 25. Aschulph Mac-Torcall, in whose time Dublin became subject to the English, and he slain. From. Death. Years. 1029 1035 6 1035 1042 7 1042 1066 24 1066 1076 10 1076 1095 19 1095 1120 25 1120 1125 5 1125 1134 9 1134 1147 13 1147 1149 2 1149 1161 12 1161 1171 10 In all twenty-five vi-kings, who reigned on an average over twelve years each. In many Danish and Norman accounts these vi-kings are called "kings of Ireland;" but they were never re- cognised as kings, in Ireland. li APPENDIX. 129 APPENDIX n. THB BNTBBNOHMENT OF BOSS. Mb. Cbofton Cbokeb (Songs of Ireland, p. 277, et seq.) gives the following account of the author- ship, discovery, and translation of this remaiic- able old Poem : — "The ballad on the entrenchment of New Ross, in 1265,* which is here given as a specimen of ancient local song, was first printed in the * Archseologia,' vol. xxii., having been com- municated to the Society of Antiquaries in 1829 by Sir Frederic Madden, with the following introductory observations : — "Among the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum, is preserved a highly curious volume, written at the commencement of the fourteenth century, containing a miscellaneous collection of pieces in verse and prose, apparently the pro- duction of an Irish ecclesiastic, and chiefly of a satirical description. Most of these pieces are in English or Latin ; and there is great reason to conclude that they are from the pen of Friar Michael Kyldare, who is expressly named as the author of a ballad, fol. 10, and who is erroneously assigned by Eitson, in his * Bibliographia Poe- * In pontifiaate of Clement IV., whose numerous letters to the Irish bishops are given in Theiner^s "Vetera Monumenta," from, the Vatican Press. It ;ii It! \ 'f f I 180 APPKNDIX. ! ill tica,' to the fifteenth, instead of the beginning of the preceding century. But towards the close of this MS. (which, from the folios having been strangely misplaced, is very difficult to aoIIow in the order of contents), occurs an extremely interesting poem, written in the ancient or Norman-French language, contributing in a re- markable degree to throw illustration on the early topography and history of the town of New Boss in Ireland. "The poem in question is thus described in the Harleian Catalogue, No. 913, Art. 43, — * Eithmus facture mile de Rosse^ being a French poem upon the quarrel which happened there, between Sir Morice , . . . . and Sir Wauter • • . . A.D. 1265.* This is not a very accurate description, since the object of the writer (who was an eye-witness, and therefore of undoubted authority) was not to relate a quarrel between two anonymous knights, but to give a detailed and highly interesting narrative of the erection of the walls and fortifications of the town of Eoss; occasioned by the dread felt by the in- habitants, lest the unprotected and open situation of the place might cause them to suffer from a feud tiien raging with violence between two powerful barons." "'These barons,' according to Sir Frederic Madden, *were Mauric* Fitzmaurice, the chief of the Geraldine faction, and Walter de Burgo or Bourke, Earl of Ulster, whose deadly Tars, as Sir James Ware writes, under the year 1264, ' wrought bloodshed and troubles throughout the realm of Ireland.* " APPENDIX. 131 nning of close of ng been follow in xtremely cient or in a re- on the sown of jribed in fc. 43,— French d there, Wauter accurate ;er (who idoubted between detailed erection town of the in- jituation from a Jen two Frederic tie chief 3 Burgo "Tars, as r 1264, lout the Mr. Croker, however, is inclined to think, that " whoever the Sir Maurice mentioned may have been, and he probably was a Fitzgerald, the Sir Walter was not a De Burgo, but a Le Poer, or Power, not improbably the father of the Walter le Power, who is chronicled by Holin- shed, in 1302, as having 'wasted a great part of Mounster, burning manie farmes and places in that countrie.' " Stanihurst's account of the entrenchment of New Ross, as given in Holinshed, is exceedingly minute. * Rosse,* he writes, * is an haven towne in Mounster, not far from Waterford, which seemeth to have beene in ancient time a towne of great port. Whereof sundrie and probable conjectures are given, as well by the old ditches that are now a mile distant from the wals of Rosse, betweene which wals and ditches, the reliks of the ancient wals, gates, and towers, placed betweene both, are yet to be scene. The towne is builded in a barren soile, and planted among a crue of naughtie and proUing neighbours. And in old time when it flourished, albeit the towne were sufficientlie peopled, yet as long as it was not compassed with wals, they were formed with watch and ward to keep it from the greedie snatching of the Irish enimies. With whome as they were generallie molested, so the private cousening of one pezzant on a sudden incensed fchem to inviron their towne with strong and substantial wals/ " * There repaired one of the Irish to this towne on horssebacke, and espieing a piece of cloth on a merchant's st^ tooke hold thereof i " I'll, 'Mill M I,' I * >E. I 'ij 132 APPENDIX. fi jr' m i;r i r m and bet the cloth to the lowest price he could. As the merchant and he stood dodging one with the other in cheaping the ware, the horsseman considering that he was well mounted, and that the merchant and he had growne to a price, made wise as though he would have drawne to his purse to have defraied the monio. The cloth in the meane while being tucked up and placed before him, he gave the spur to his horse and ran awaie with the cloth, being not imbard from his posting pace, by reason the towne was not per- closed either with ditch or wal. The townesmen beene pinched at the heart that one rascal in such ^comfull wise should give them the slam- paine, not so much weieng the slendernesse of the lossp, as the t.^amefuluess of the foile, they put their heads together, consulting how to pre- vent either the sudden rushing, or the post-hast fiieng of anie such adventurous rakehell here- after. " * In which consultation, a famous Dido, a chast widow, a poiitike dame, a bountifull gen- tlewoman, called Kose, who, representing in sinceritie of life the sweetnesse of that hearbe whose nanre she bare, unfolded the devise how anie such future mischance should be prevented, and withall opened hir coffers liberallie to have it furthered ; two good properties in a councellor. Hir devise was that the towne should incon- tinentlie be inclosed with wals, and therewithall promised to discharge the charges, so that they would not sticko to find out labourers. The de- vise of this worthy matrone being vise, and the offer liberall, the townesmen agreed to follow the APPENDIX. 138 ^ one, and to put their helping hands to the atchiv- ing of the other. The worke waa begun, which, thorough the multitude of hands, seemed light. For the whole towne was assembled, tag and rag, cut and long taile ; none exempted, but such as were bedred and impotent. Some were tasked to delve, others appointed with mattocks to dig, diverse allotted to the unheaping of rubbish, manie bestowed to the cariage of stones, surdrie occupied in tempering of morter, the better sort busied in overseeing the workmen, ech one according to his vocation emploied, as though the civitie of Carthage were afresh in building, as it is featlie versified by +he golden poet Virgil, and neatlie Englished by Master Doctor Phaer. " * But to returne from Dido of Carthage to Rose of Rosse, and hir worke. The labourers were so manie, the worke, by reason of round and excheker paiment, so well applied, the quarrie of fairs marble so neere at hand (for they affirme that out of the trenches and ditches hard by their rampiers the stones were had ; and all that plot is so stonie, that the foundation is an hard rocke), that these wals with diverse brave turrets were suddenlie mounted, and in manner sooner finished, than to the Irish enimies notified ; which I wisse was no small corsie to them. These wals in cir- cuit are equall to London wals. It hath three gorgeous gates, — Bishop his gate on the east side, Algate on the east-south-east side, and Southgate on the south part. This towne was no more famoused for these wals, than for a notable woodden bridge that stretched from the towne ;» I 4 H 81 'r ' 1 184 APPBNDIZ. ► " : li unto the other side of the water, which must have beene by reasonable surveie twelve score ( ), if not more. Divers of the poales, logs, and stakes, with which the bridge was under- propt, sticke to this daie in the water. A man would here suppose, that so flourishing a towne, so firmelie builded, so substantiallie walled, so well peopled, so plentiouslie with thriftie arti- ficers stored, would not have fallen to anie sudden decaie.' " Stanihurst, whose account was published in 1586, adds, 'The wals stand to this daie, a few streets and houses in the towne, no small parcel thereof is turned to orchards and gardens. The greater part of the towne is steepe and steaming upward. Their church is called Christ^s Church, in the north side whereof is placed a monument, called * the King of Denmarke, his toome ;' whereby conjecture may rise that the Danes were founders of that church. This Eosae is called Kosse Nova, or Kosse Ponti, by reason of their bridge.' " Tn addition," says Mr. Croker, " to v/hat Sir Frederic Madden has said respecting the entrenchment of New Boss, an attempt to trace its history may not be unsatisfactory. That a friar named Michael of Kildare was the writer, is not only tolerably certain from the passage alluded to by Sir Frederic Madden, which is the closing verse of a religious song, viz. : •* * This sang wrozt a frere, Jhesu Crist be is socure, Loverd bring him to the tour, ^ Frere Michel Kyldare ;* * APPENDIX. 136 must score logs, under- man towne, ed, so e arti- mdden bed in a few parcel The iaming hurch, ament, oome 'I Danes »ase is son of ) v/hat ig the > trace That is the m the !adden, g, viz. : i but from a Satire in Latin, at p. 26yo., which commences, *Ego, Michael Bernardi.* The manuscript consists of 64 leaves of vellum, 12mo. size, and is written in a good hand, and embel- lished with initial letters in colours. On folio 25, a paragraph commences * Anno domini, m®. ccc^. viij. XX*. die Feb. which is the identical year when the song on the death of Sir Piers de Birmingham, printed by Kitson, in his * Collec- tion of Ancient Songs,' from this manuscript, appears to have been composed. From this coincidence, the year 1308* may be fairly assigned as the date of this manuscript. Various notices respecting it at different periods, enable us to trace its history with some degree of accuracy. On the suppression or dissolution of the monas- tery in which the volume had been preserved, it came into the possession of a George Wyse, as is evident from the following entry, in the writing of Elizabeth's time, on the back of the second folio : — " * Iste Liber pertinet ad me. Gboroius Wysb.' " The comparison of the autograph of George Wyse, who was bailiff of "Waterford in 1566, and mayor of that city in 1571, which is extant in the State Paper Office, leaves little doubt as * In the pontificate of Clement V. who, in the year following, granted an indulgence to the citizens of Dublin who prayed for the soul of John Havering, de- ceased, Father of the elected to that Metropolitan See, which he would not accept, and became chaplain to his Holiness. — Theincr Y.M. » 'ft ! ij I- h- ; ii. M^ ' r ■H 136 APPENDIX. to the identity of this individual. The Wyse family, it may be observed, were distinguished for their literary taste. Stanihurst, speaking of them, remarks, that * of this surname there flou- rished sundrie learned gentlemen. There liveth,' he adds, * one Wise, in Waterf ord, that maketh [verse 1] verie well in the English ;* and he par- ticularly mentions * Andrew "Wise, a toward youth and a good versifyer.' To the same familj were granted various ecclesiastical possessions in Ireland. Sir William Wyse, the ancestor of the late member for Waterf ord, and possibly the father of the above mentioned George, had a grant of the Abbey of St. John near that city, 15th jS"ovember, 1536. "However this manuscript may have come into the hands of a member of the Wyse family, it seems to have continued, if not in their posses- sion, at least in the same locality ; as, in the reign of James I., it is noticed as * The Book of Eoss or Waterf ord :' see No. 4-18 of the Lans- downe MSS. in the British Museum, a collection nitide by Sir James Ware, which contains tran- scripts of several pieces from it, where the follow- ing note occurs upon the copy of the song already mentioned respecting the death of Sir Piers de Birmingham : * Out of a smale olde booke in Parchmt. called the booke of Bosse or Waterford. Feb. 1608.' "The Editor is not aware of any further notice by which the history of this interesting manuscript can be traced, until the appearance of the *Catalogus Manuscript. Anglise et Hiber- nise,' printed in 1697, where it is mentioned as APPENDIX. 137 in the library of More, Bishop of iS'orwich. Tliat this little collection of monkish rhymes should have escaped the fanaticism of the Commonwealth, proves either how highly it was prized, or that its escape was almost miraculous, and therefore baffles sober conjecture. But having been trans- ferred to the library of Bishop More, a few years after that in which it is registered as being in his possession, the English poem which this manu- script contains on Cokaygne, was printed in the * Thesaurus' of Dr. Hickes, from a manuscript lent to him by Bishop Tanner. " A careful comparison of the poem on Cok- aygne, as printed by Hickes, with the copy in *the Book of Ross of Waterford' (the only early copy now known to exist in manuscript), can leave no question that the original of Hickes was derived from the copy in the British Museum. And, as no such manuscript is to be found in the public library of the University of Cambridge, where More's manuscripts were deposited after his death, and also as the contents in the cata- logue of 1697 agree with those of the Harleian MS. No. 913, there can be little doubt that the MS. *Book of Ross or Waterford,' as Sir James Ware's copyist calls it, had been lent by More to Tanner, and that not having been re- turned before the death of the former prelate, or from some other cause, it had afterwards passed into the library of the Earl of Oxford. The cir- cumstance, hitherto unexplained, of this manu- script being mentioned, at nearly the same period, as in the possession of several persons, i I Ik 7' ' It t ,1' H ii II I N(,i J 196 APPSNDIX. S : ,', 1. l\ >' 11 has led to the supposition that two, or even three, copies of it were in existence. "At the time that *the Book of Ross or Waterford' came into the Harleian Library, it certainly was in a very tattered condition, and some of the leaves wanting. At present (as already noticed by Sir Frederic Madden) many of the leaves are transposed, the order of the pieces does not coincide strictly with that in More's catalogue, and two or three articles have evidently been lost. " Among the transcripts made for Sir James "Ware (Lansdowne MSS. 418), the following tantalizing note is an evidence of the loss of an Anglo-Irish ballad of some interest — at least to any one engaged in the investigation of the his- tory of Irish Song. " * There is in this book a long discourse in meter putting the youth of Waterford in mind of harme taken by the povers (ie.. Power's family of De la Poer), and wishing them to beware for the time to come ; I have written out the first etaffe only — ** * Young men of Waterford,* &c. ,..:.. And it would seem from the transcript that the copyist was deterred from proceeding, by the difficulty he experienced in reading his original. * The Book of Eoss or Waterford' being now known as the Harleian MSS. No. 913, it may save the inquisitive Irish reader some trouble by stating that its contents are of a very miscella- neoiTS character. Most of the articles in it are, Fhr ■ : l.il 8 or y, it and (as any the in ave APPENDIX. 139 |- as numismatists say, * unique and unpublished -^ but the only poems which have any direct refer- ence to Ireland, beside the Anglo-JSTorman ballad on *The Entrenchment of New Eoss/ are the song on the death of Sir Piers de Birmingham, already mentioned as printed by Eitson, and a satirical lyric, in which the conduct of the monks of various orders, and the nuns of St. Mary's house, is severely handled, as well as the mode of dealing then practised, and, it is to be feared, but since little amended, by the merchants, tailors, shoemakers, tanners, potters, bakers, brewers, hucksters, and wool-combers. Both the latter songs are in English. There is also the following scrap in Anglo-Norman (fol. 15vo.), entitled * Proverhia comitis Desmonie,^ the history or point of which is not very evident beyond an ingenious play upon words — " * Soule su simple e saunz solas, Seignury me somount sojorner. Si suppris sei de moune solas, Sages se deit soul solacer, Soule ne solai sojorner. No solein estre de petit solas, Sovereyn se est de se solacer. Que se sent soule e saunz solas.' " ■f If if ■hi I » I- I " i I. ** To return to the ballad on * The Entrench- ment of New Eoss.' It appears evident from it that the inhabitants feared that, in the war between two powerful barons, they should be exposed to insult and reprisal from the Irish who were engaged in the quarrel. At this period — ( I; 1 r i ''' IP '' 1 ||i; f R -i 1 ■|f^ 1 140 APPENDIX < \ n the middle o:: the thirteenth century — it should be borne in mind, that town and country were two distinct states, under entirely different govern- ments. The towns were republics, under the protection of the key; the cou'^try was under the despotic government of a whole tribe of tyrants, and under no protection whatever. The corporate towns, therefore, walled themselves, in order to be able to preserve their neutrality in the wars of the district which surrounded them. This, which was the case in England, must have been still more necessary in a country like Ire- land, where the tov/nsmen were English, and the countrymen chiefly Irish. "The whole tenour of this very remarkable song shows that it was written when the f oss was nearly finished, but before the walls were begun. The fosSj or ditch, was always the first part of such undertakiDgs ; therefore, in the translation, where, for the sake of rhyme, or from any other cause, the word * wall' is used, it must be under- stood as meaning the foss, or preparatory step towards the building of the wall; and in the passage where the word * rampart ' occurs, it is intended to express the ground above the foss. Indeed, the passage is not unlike the one in *Hudibras,' descriptive of the entrenchments formed by the citizens of London in 1642, upon the alarm that it was the intention of the royal army to attack the metropolis : — " ' March'd rank and file, with drum and ensign, T* entrench the city for defence in ; Raised rampiers with their own soft hands To put the enemy to stands • APPENDIX. 141 should wera overn- Jr the under be of The es, in ty in them. have Ire- dthe kable s was Bgun. irt of Ltion, Dther Qder- step the it is foss. B in ents ipon oyal From ladies down to oyster wenches, Laboured like pioneers in trenches ; Fall'n to their pick-axes and tools, And helped the men to dig like moles.' " The burgesses of New Ross, however, as far as the song goes, laboured not in building the wall, but in digging the foss ; and, while they rested on Sunday, the ladies carried stones, and placed them alongside of the foss, to be ready to build the wall when the entrenchment was com- pleted. And thence these fair dames go and talk of building one of -he gates themselves. After Sunday the burgesses again resumed their digging at the foss, which was twenty feet in depth, and, according to the words of the ballad, so soon as it shall be completed will be a league in length. It is, therefore, to be presumed, that the foss was not quite completed when the song now given was composed by some merry minstrel of the place on the day noted at the conclusion, and it was perhaps sung at t^j corporation dinner after their work. " In Sir Richard Musgrave's * History of the Irish Rebellion of 1798,' a plan of the town of New Ross may be found (which plan was, the Editor believes, sketched for Sir Richard, by Miss Mary Ann Tottenham). In this plan the town appears inclosed by a wall, defended by towers, to which the following names are at- tached : — * North Gate,* * Maiden Tower,' * Mar- ket Gate,' *Bunnion Gate,' * Weaver's Tower,' * Brogue Makers' Tower,' 'Three Bullet Gate' (where Lord Mountjoy was killed in the attack ^t '1 is, I I (I: ' ^ {A > y ■A 142 APPENDIX. i-'\ on New Ross, in 1798), *Mary*s Tower/ and * the Priory, or South Gate.' " Upon the line, * E od floites e taburs,' Sir Frederic Madden remarks, in the * ArchsB- ologia/ *The flute is mentioned as a musical instrument in the romances of Alexander, Dolo- pathos, and several others of the 13th and 14th centuries. In a curious poem of Guillaume de Machault, a writer of the 14th century, among other instruments of music, is noticed * La flauste brehaiffne,' on which Roquefort remarks * C'6toit probablement une fliite chap^tre.' But may we not interpret this the Irish flute, in contradis- tinction to the flute traversiere, or German flute 1 Walker, in his * Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bards,' p. 90, has stated that no record exists to prove the use of the flute among the ancient Irish ; but at the same time owns it highly pro- bable this instrument was known to them, par- ticularly from the length of some of the notes in the early Irish melodies appearing calculated rather for the flute than the harp,' " It only remains for the Editor to add, that the translation of the curious ballad to which these observations are prefixed, was made, at his request, by Mrs. George Maclean,* in 1831. In the playful letter which accompanied her trans- lation, she (L. E. L.) observes, * I am not quite ; * L. S. Landon. APPENDIX. 143 and sure that I perfectly understand the line — * Qe ja ne li leireit vilein fere,* which Mr. Madden, in his communication to your Society, is pleased to slur, by saying, * after paying a compliment to these heroines, in the usual style of such compliments, and therefore not worth repeating,' &c, Now, I doubt whe- ther any compliment ever paid to a woman was utterly thrown away; and, in the belief that some fair dame of the present day may like to see that the ladies of old were flattered much the same as now, I have ventured to turn the compliment.' I have a whim to speak in verse, If you will list what I rehearse, For an ur heeded tale, I wisse, Not worth a clove of garlic is. Please you, then, to understand, *Tis of a town in Ireland ; For its size the one most fair That I know of anywhere. But the town had cause of dread In the feud two barons spread ; Sir Maurice and Sir Walter — see, Here their names shall written be; Also that fair city's name — Eoss they then did call the same. *Ti8 the new bridge-town of Ross, Which no walls did then enclose ; It therefore feared a stranger's blows Commons both, and leading men, Gathered in the council then. What for safety to devise. In shortest time and lowest price : 'Twas that round the town be thrown Walls of mortar and of stone. For this war tiilad them with iwr | * I i '■I 144 APPENDIX. H ; Much they dreaded broil so near. Candlemas, it was the day They began to delve in clay, Marking out a foss, to shew Where the future wall should go. Soon 'twas traced, and then were hired Workmen ; all the task desired. More than a hundred workmen ply Daily 'neath the townsmen's eye ; Yet small advance these fellows made. Though /^ 1p^ it they were paid. So the c .?u;oU met again; Such a la ' ^y pass'd then I Such a law iiiigh; '>t be found, Nor on French nor liinglish ground, Kext day a summonc read aloud, Gathered speedily a crowd ; When the law proclaimed they hear, 'Twas received with many a cheer. Then a good man did advance, And explained the ordinance ; Vintners, drapers, merchantSi all Were to labour at the wall. From the early morning time, Till the day was in its prime. More than a thousand men, I say. Went to the goodly work each day. Monday they began their labours, Gay, with banners, flutes, and tabours; Soon as the noon-hour was come, These good people hastened home, With their banners proudly borne. Then the youth advanced in turn, And the town they made it ring With their merry carolling ; Singing loud and full of mirth, Away they go to shovel earth. And the priests, when mass was chanted, In the foss they dug and panted ; Quicker, harder, worked each brother^ Harder far than any other ; APPENDIX. U5 For both old and younff did feel Great and strong with holy zeal* Mariners came next, and they Pass'd along in fair array. With their banner borne before, "Which a painted vessel bore. Full six hundred were they then ; But full eleven hundred men Would have gathered by the wall, If they had attended all. Tuesday came-^oat-makers, tailors, Fullers, cloth-dyers, and '* sellers ;" Right good hands, these jolly blades, Were they counted at their trades, Away they worked like those before. Though the others numbered more ; Scarce four hundred did they stand. But they were a worthy band. Wednesday following down there cann) Other bands, who worked the same Butchers, cordwainers and tanners, Bearing each their separate banners, Fainted as might appertain To their craft, and 'mid the train, Many a brave bachelor : Small and great, when numbered o*er. Singing as they worked their song, Just three hundred were they strong. » I ? ^. ■ ! li* Ml V til ill Thursday came, the fishermen. And the hucksters followed then, Who sell corn and fish ; they bear Divers banners, for they were Full four hundred ; and the crowd Carolled and sung aloud ; And the wainrights, they came too — They were only thirty-two ; A single banner went before, Which a fish and platter bore. But on Saturday the stir Of blacksmith, mason, carpenter. <^1 «* i 146 APPENDIX. Hundreds three with fitty told, Many were they, true and bold ; And they toiled with main and might, Needful knew they 'twas, and right. I' " ■f i- h Then on Sunday there came down All the dames of that brave town ; Know, ^ood labourers were they, But their numbers none may say. On the ramparts there were thrown By their fair hands many a stone ; Who had there a gazer been, Many a beauty might have seen. Many a scarlet mantle too, Or of green or russet hue ; Many a fair cloak had they, And robes dight with colours gay. In all lands where I have been, Such fair dames working I've not seen. He who had to choose the power, Had been born in lucky hour. Many a banner was displayed, While the work the ladies aid ; When their gentle hands had done Piling up rude heaps of stone. Then they walked the foss along, Singing sweet a,nd cheerful song ; And returning to the town, All these rich dames there sat down ; Where, with mirth, and wine, and song, Pass'd the pleasant hours along. Then they said a gate they'd make, Called the ladies', for their sake, And their prison there should be ; Whoso entered, straightway he Should forego his liberty. Lucky doom I ween ia his Who £. *ady's prisoner is ; Ijight the fetters are to wear Of a lady kind and fair ; But of them enough is said. Turn we to tho foss instead. APF13ND1X. U7 Twenty feet that foss is deep, And a league in length doth creep, When the noble work is done, Watchmen then there needeth noitc ; All may sleep in peace and quiet^ "Without fear of evil riot. Fifty thousand might attack, And yet turn them bootless back. Warlike stores there are enouy^h, Bold assailant to rebuff. We have hauberks many a one. Savage, gar9on, haubergeon; Doublets too, and coats of mail, Yew -bows good, withouten fail. In no city have I seen So many good glaives, I ween. Cross-bows hanging on the wall, Arrows too to shoot withal ; Every house is full of mAO'^z, And good shields and talevaces. Cross-bow men when numbered o'er. Are three hundred and three score ; And three hundred archers shew, Beady with a gallant bow ; And three thousand men advance. Armed with battle-axe and lance ; Above a hundred knightis, who wield Arms aye ready for the iield. I warrant you the town's prepared 'Gainst all enemies to guard. Here I deem it meet to say. No desire for war have they. But to keep their city free, Blamed of no man can they be. When the wall is carried round, None in Ireland will be found Bold enough to dare to fight. Let the f oeman come in sight, If the city horn twice sound, Every burgess will be found Ea^er in the warlike labour. Striving to outdo his neighbour .* :i' 1 1 1 I • ♦ (S.f Hi Hi 118 APPENDIX. God give them the victory 1 Say amex) for cbarity. In no other isle is known 8uoh J. hospitable town ; Joy'/usly the people greet Evtx'y stranger in their street Free is he to sell and buy, And sustain no tax thereby. Town and people once again I commend to God. Amen. APPENDIX III. THE STATUTE OP KILKENNY, A.D. 1367. The following extract from the statute of Kilkenny — the chief cause and fuel of Art MacMurrogh's wars — will help the reader's judgment of the man and his times. These clauses are the first YI. and are essentially politi- cal. The rest enact ecclesiastical and legal regulations : — "Whereas at the conquest* of the land of Ireland, and for a long time after, tlio English of the said land used the English language, mode of riding and apparel, and were governed and ruled, both they and their subjects called Betaghes,t according to the English law, in which time God * This title to the land of Ireland, so frequently men- tioned in the old statutes, has often been proved a mere assumption. I This word in ** the Pale " seems to have been syno- nymous with vassal or villein ; tho Irish word BiatagJ^ was applied to purveyors for the King's service, and ktepuu of hoBtcii'iuH. Arntmn, 149 67. )Ut6 of of Art reader's These y politi- i legal land of glisli of node of i ruled, aghes,t me God tly men- l a mere en syno- Biatagh ice, uuii and holy Church, and their franchises according to their condition were maintained [and them- selves lived] in \due\ subjection ; but now many English of the said land, forsaking the Englisli language, manners, mode of riding, laws and usages, live and govern themselves according to the manners, fashion, and language of the Irish enemies ;* and also have made divers marriages and alliances between themselves and the Irish enemies aforesaid ; whereby the said land, and the liege people thereof, the English language, the allegiance due to oui lord the king, and the Ep;^lish laws there, are put in subjection and decayed, and the Irish enemies exalted and raised up, contrary to raison ; our lord the king, con- sidering the mischiefs aforesaid, in consequence of the grievous complaints of the commons of his said land, called to his Parliament held at Kilkenny, the Thursday next after the day of Cinders (Ash Wednesday), in the fortieth year of his reign, before his well-beloved son, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, his lieutenant in the parts of Ireland, to the honour of God and of His glorious Mother, and of holy Church, and for the good government of the said land, and quiet of the people, and for the better observation of the laws, and punishment of evil doers, there are ordained and established by our said lord the king, and uis said lieutenant, and our lord the king's counsel there, with the assent of the arch- ♦ This preamble gives the pith of the whole statute, which for construction, ingenuity, and clearness of si yle is as creditable to its authors, as its spirit and tende icy are repugnant to Irish feelings. I I, I c 1150 APPMTDIX t ir f\' bisLops, bishops, abbots, and priors (as to what appertains to them to assent to), the earls, barons, and others the commons of the said land, at the said parliament there being and assembled, the ordinances and articles under written, to be held and kept perpetually upon the pains contained therein. " L First, it is ordained, agreed to, and esta- blished, that holy Church shall be free, and h:\ve all her franchises without injury, according to the franchises ordained and granted by our lord the king, or his progenitors, by (any) statute or ordinance made in England or in Ireland here- tofore ; and if any (which God forbid) do to the contrary, and be excommunicated by the ordi- nary of the place for that cause, so that satisfac- tion be not made to God and holy Cix\*rch by the party so excommunicated, within the month after such excommunication, that then, after certificate thereupon being made, by the said ordinary, into the Chancery, a writ shall be directed to the sheriif, mayor, seneschal of franchise, or other otficers of our lord the king, to take his body, and to keep him in prison without enlarging him by mainprize or bail, until satisfaction be made to God and holy Church, notwithstanding that the forty days be not passed ; and that no pro- hibition from Chancery be henceforth granted in any suit against the franchises of holy Church ; saving at all times the right for our lord the king, and of his crown ; so that the franchises of holy Church be not overturned or injured; and in case that by suggestion of the party prohibition be granted, that as soon as the articles of fran- APPENDIX. 151 whftt [barons, at the |ed, the )e held itained id esta- d h:\ve ing to by our statute id here- to the le ordi- satisfac- i by the ith after Ttificate iry, into to the ►r other is body, ing him e made ag that Qo pro- nted in hurch ; :e king, of holy and in ibition f fran- chise shall be shown by the ordinary in the Chancery, a consultation shall thereupon bo granted to him without delay. " II. Also, it is ordained and established, that no alliance by marriage, gossipred, fostering of children, concubinage or by amour, nor in any other manner, be henceforth made between the English and Irish of one part, or of the other part ;* and that no Englishman, nor other person, being at peace do give or sell to any Irishman, in time of peace or war, horses or armour, nor any manner of victuals in time of war ; and if any shall do to the contrary, and thereof be attainted, he shall have judgment of life and member, as a traitor to our lord the king. "IIIo Also, it is ordained and establiwshed, that every Englishman do use the English lan- guage, and be named by an English name, leav- ing off entirely the manner of naming used by the Irish ; and that every Englishman use the English custom, fashion, mode of riding and apparel, according to his estate ; and if any English, or Irish living amongst the English, use the Irish language amongst themselves, contrary to this ordinance, and thereof be attainted, his lands and tenements, if he have any, shall be seized into the hands of his immediate lord, until he shall come to one of the places of our lord the * '* I find," says Mr. Hardiman, in his valuable notes to this statute, ** on the original roll of statutes, passed in a Parliament held at Dublin, a.d. 1466, * An act for attainting of treason the Earl of Desmond, the Earl of Kildare, and Edward Plunket, Esq., for alliances, fosterage, and alterage with the king's Irish enemies,' " 'II Ml \ t i 1 J • I I H 153 APPENDIX. I] I t king,* and find sufficient surety to adopt and use the English language, and he then shall have restitution of his said lands, hy writ issued out of said placas. In case that such person shall not have lands or tenements, his body shall be taken by any of the officers of our lord the king, and committed to the next gaol, there to remain until he, or some other in his name, shall find sufficient surety in the manner aforesaid: And that no Englishman who shall have the value of one hundred pounds of land or of rent by the year, shall ride otherwise than on a saddle in the English fashion; and he that shall do to the con- trary, and shall be thereof attainted, his horse shall be forfeited to our lord the king, and his body shall be committed to prison, until he pay a fine according to the king's pleasure for the con- tempt aforesaid ; and also, that beneficed persons of holy Church, living amongst the English, shall use the English language ; and if they do not, that their ordinaries shall have the issues of their benefices until they use the English language in the manner aforesaid ; and they shall have re- spite in order to learn the English language, and to provide saddles, between this and the feast of Saint Michael, next coming. "IV. Also, whereas diversity of government and different laws in the same land cause differ- ence in allegiance, and disputes among the peo- ple ; it is agreed and established that no English- man, having disputes with any other Engiish- * That is, one of the English courts of Justice, iu Ireland. ad use have id out shall all be king, emain 1 find And lue of )y the in the e con- horse id his pay a ) con- ersons , shall o not, F their age in ve re- 3, and ast of iment iiffer- ) peo- glish- giish- ice, m APPENDIX. 153 man, shall henceforth make caption, or take pledge, distress or vengeance against any other, whereby the people may be troubled, but that they shall sue each other at the common law ; and that no Englishman be governed in the ter- mination of their disputes by March law nor Brehon law,* which reasonably ought not to be called law, being a bad custom ; but they shall be governed, as right is, by the common law of the land, as liege subjects of our lord the king ; and if any do to the contrary, and thereof be attainted, he shall be taken and imprisoned, and adjudged as a traitor ; and that no difference of allegiance shall henceforth be made between 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 ; and he who shall be found [_doing] to the contrary, shall be punished by imprisonment for a year, and afterwards fined,! at the king's pleasure ; and by this ordinance it is not the intention of our lord the king [buf] that it shall be lawful for any one that he may take distress for service and rents due to them, and for damage feasant as the com- mon law requires. "V. Also, whereas the liege people of our * Why have we not some volume at least, by way of specimen, of the contents >f this venerable Code of Laws? t This prohibition is highly illustrative of the antipa- thy amounting almost to hatred between '* the English by birth," and the Anglo-Irish. ■■H ki ■ I ' t ' >i 11 ! I il .■■J I Si !fiil I ft II!' ll'l! it!t 154 APPENDIX. lord the king of his land of Ireland, or the wars of the same land cannot reasonably be controlled, unless the sale of victuals be reasonably regu- lated, it is ordained and established as to the merchandizes which are come, or shall come, to the same land by any merchants, and at what- ever port, town or city they shall arrive, that be- fore the said merchandizes be put up to sale, the mayor, sovereign, bailiff, or other officer who shall have care of the place where the said mer- chandizes shall be sold, do cause to come before them two of the most respectable and sufficient men of the said place, who meddle not in such merchandizes, and that the said mayor, seneschal, sovereign or bailiflP, with the said two persons, do cause to come before them the merchants to whom the said merchandizes shall belong, and the sailors, and they shall be sworn only to tell and show the amount of the first purchase {jyrime cosf] of the said merchandizes, and of the expenses on them to the port, and thereupon that a reasonable price be puL upon the said mer- chandizes by the said mayor, se-iv-vi.rdy bailiff or provost, and by the two discreet jixien aforesaid, without favour, as they may be able to vouch before our lord the king's council of these parts ; and at such prices they shall be sold, without more being taken for them, upon forfeiture of the same, although the said merchandizes should have there become chargeable afterwards. " VI. Also, whereas a land, which is at war, requiiij thr.t every person do render himself abk' tn defend himself it is ordained and esta- blisht'<'% tluit t^3 coniiiions of the said land of APPENDIX. 155 wars oiled, regu- .0 the ne, to what- at be- e, the who mer- Defore icient such schal, rsons, nts to J, and to tell rchase of the 'eupou dmer- iliff or resaid, vouch parts ; ithout ure of should i war, imself 1 esta- iid of Ireland, who are in the diflFerent marches at war, do not, henceforth, use the plays which men call horlings, with great sticks [and a baW] upon the ground, from which great evils and maims have arisen, to the weakening of the defence of the said land, and other plays which men call coit- ing ; but that they do apply and accustom them- selves to use and draw bows, and throw lances, and other gentlemanlike games, whereby the Irish enemies may be the better checked by the liege people and commons of these parts ; and if any do or practise the contrary, and of this be attainted, they shall be taken and imprisoned, and fined at the will of our lord the king/'* ^From Hardiman's Statute of Kilkenny — Tracts of the Archceological Society y Vol. 7/.] APPENDIX IV. OATH OP OFFICE TAKEN BY THE PROVOST OF DUBLIN, A.D. 1388. First, — You acknowledge the Holy and Bless- ed Trinity in unity, to be three persons iv one God. Secondly, — You acknowledge yourself to be of the mother Church of Rome, now profe^ ed by all Catholics. Thirdly, — You acknowledge our sovei 3ign lord, ♦ This clause ia a remarkable proof of the care taketi to prepare this statute. Howeveri like the rest, it ituied of its ond. .1 « , it ti 1" ■I il >^. . i ; pi!! 31- ;' ■ i iri 156 APPENDIX. Richard, King of England, to be the true gover- nor of this realm, and to observe all his laws, as he is lord and ruler of the same. Fourthly, — You are to observe the commands of his chief governors, ruling here under him, and to assist him upon all occasions against his rebels of the kingdom rising against his power. Fifthly, — You are to defend this his majesty's city of Dublin, against all foreigners or Irish rebels, to the best of your power, and your brethren the citizens, whenever required or occasion serve. Sixthly, — You are to do justice to all that come before you, to assist them, and to do them right according to your conscience, punishing the otfenddr, and doing right to the innocent. Sv^venthly, — You are to see the market of this city kept decent, and in order ; that there be no carrion or stinking meat sold, no false weights or measures kept among the sellers, whereby the buyers may be damaged, but to take all such away, and to be given to the poor of that parish in which the same be forfeited. Eighthly, — You are to prnish all stragglers, idhrs, and lazy people that be able to work, and io banish all country beggars from this city, who :;jme several times only for spies, and not to for- get Rotherick's deceit by sending them before- hand, when he besieged this city. Ninthly, — You are not to sufiPer any cattle to be slaughtered within your walls, neither to sufiFer any swine to run about the streets, and to banish all beggars in the time of any sickness or plague. I>ver- as mds lim, his jr. itfs rish ^our or ATTWTDJX. 15? Tenthly, — ^You are to deal justly with all cor- porations, not suffering another to exercise the trade contrary to the corporation of which he is free, unless it be for his own particular use for the present. Twelfthly, — You are to look that all things be sold according to the quantity and season of the year, as the increase is, that the inhabitants be not in any way prejudiced thereby. You are to observe, according to your charter, the times to ride your franchises, and not to suffer the liberties to bo intruded upon by rebels, or foreigners, but to defend the same with all their might and power, that you and your brethren the rest of the citizens can. Thirteenthly, — You are to observe all the feasts of the Church, and the customs of the same, according to the ceremonies thereunto belonging, to be courteous and civil to all strangers, keeping hospitality, charity, and good works, whereby others following your example, may glorify God, and merit the kingdom of Heaven. N.B. At the reading every one of the foregoing articles, the provost kissed the book, the chief baron of the Exchequer repeating the words, and the Prior of Christ Church administering the oath. I ii 168 APPBNDIX. 1 1 /» f \-y- APPENDIX V. The following brief notice of the history of Leighlin Bridge, the chief key to Kavanagh's country, we extract from the " Irish Penny Journr^ " for 1840, vol. I. :— "The ancient Bridge and Black Castle of Leighlin Bridge, seated on * the goodly Barrow,' must be familiar to such of our readers as have ever travelled on the mail coach road between Carlo w and Kilkenny, for it is a scene of much picturesque beauty, and of a character very likely to impress itself on the memory, " These are the most striking features of the town called Leighlin Bridge, a market and post town, situated partly in the parish of Augha and barony of Idrone, East, and partly in the parish of Welis and barony of Idrone West, in the county of Carlow, six miles south from the town of that name, and forty-five miles S.S.W. from Dublin. This town contains about 2,000 inhabitants, and is seated on both sides of the Barrow ; the bridge, which contains nine arches, dividing it into nearly equal portions ; that on the east side consists of 178 houses and that on the west of 191, being 369 houses in all. The parish church of "Wells, the Roman Catholic chapel, and a national school-house are on the Wells' side of the river, as is also the ruined castle. APPENDIX. 159 of mny of " To the erection cf this castle the town owes its origin. As a position of great military importance to the interests of the first Anglo- Norman settlers in Ireland, it was erected in 1181, either by the renowned Hugh de Lacy himself, or by John de Clahull, or De Claville, * to whom de Lacy gave the niarshallshipp of all Leinster, and the land between Aghavoe and Leighlin.' " From a minute description of the remains of this castle, given by Mr. Eyan in his History and Antiquities of the County of Carlow, a work of much ability and research, it appears that it was constructed on the Norman plan, and con- sisted of a quadrangular enclosure, 315 feet in length and 234 feet in width, surrounded by a wall seven feet thick, with a fosse on the exterior of three sides of the enclosure, and the river on the fourth. Of this wall the western side only is now in existence. The keep or great tower of this fortress, is situated at the north-western angle of the square, and is of an oblong form, and about fifty feet in height. It is much dila- pidated ; but one floor, resting on an arch, remains, to which there is an ascent by stone steps, as there is to the top, which is completely covered over with ivy, planted by the present possessors of the castle. At the other, or south- west angle of the enclosure, are ^he remains of a lesser tower, which is of a rotund form and of great strength, the walls being ten feet thick. It is still more dilapidated than the great keep, and is only 24 feet high, having a flight of steps load- ing to its summit. .■| M ' i. 160 APPENDIX. : \H' ** The present name of the town, however, is derived from the bridqe, which was erected in 1320, to facilitate the intercourse between the religious houses of old and new Leighlin, by Maurice Jakis, a canon of the cathedral of Kildare, whose memory as a bridge-builder is deservedly preserved, having also erected the bridges of KilcuUen and St. Woolstan's over the Liffey, both of which still exist. Previously to the erection of this bridge, the town was called New Leighlin, in contradistinction to the original Leighlin, a town of more ancient and ecclesias- tical origin, which was situated about two miles to the west, and which was afterwards known by the appellation of Old Lei^^hlin. The erec- tion of this bridge, by giving a new direction to the great southern road, led rapidly to the increase of the new town and the decay of the old one, whose site is only marked at pre- sent by the remains of its venerable cathedral church. " In addition to the Black Castle and the bridge already noticed, Leighlin Bridge had for- merly a second castle, as well as a monastery, of which there are at present no remains. The former, which was called the White Castle, was erected in 1408 by Gerald, the fifth Earl of Kil- dare ; its site, we believe, is now unknown. The monastery was erected for Carmelite or "White Friars, under the invocation of the Virgin Mary, by one of the Carews, in the reign of Henry lit, and was situated at the south side of the Black Castle, After the suppression of Religious houses, this monastery, being in the hands of ;.i! (' V. I ed in jn the n, by al of cler is the er the sly to called 'iginal lesias- miles :nown J erec- ection io the ly of t pre- ledral 1 the I for- 7, of The was Kil- The ^hite [ary, 111, ►lack ^ious s of APPENDIX. 161 governnieiit, was in 1547 surrounded with a wall, and converted into a fort, by Sir Edward Bellingham, Lord Deputy of Ireland, wlio also established within it a stable of twenty or thirty horses, of a superior breed to that commonly used in Ireland, for the use of his own household, and for the public service. The dispersed friars did not, however, remove far from their original mansion when dispossessed of their tenements ; they withdrew to a house on the same t>ide ol" the river, about t' ' adred yards from the castle ; and an establiblimont of the order was preserved till about the year 1827, when it became ex- tinct, on tne death of the last friar of the com- munity. "As the English settlement hero became very insecure towards the close of the frurteenth cen- tury, and was peculiarly exposed to the hostile attacks of tlie native Iiish, who continued powerful in its immediate vicinity, a grant of ten marks annually was made by Ed\vard III. in 1371, to the Prior of this monastery, for the repairing and rebuilding of the house, which grant was renewed six years afterwards ; and in 1378, Eichard II., in consideration of the great labour, burden, and expense which the Priors had in supporting their house, and the bridge con- tiguous to it, against the king's enemies, granted to the Priors an annual pension of twenty marks out of the rents of Newcastle of Lyons, which grant he confirmed to them in 1394, and which was ratified by his successors Henry IV. and V. in the first years of their reign (1399, 1412), the latter monarch ordering at the same L ' 'I ;i H IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) <_ ^ A ^\<^ h ^% «^>^ j^=r^ 1.0 I.I ■^1^ ill us us lit U£ 12.0 18 1.25 1,1.4 ,,.6 ^ 6" ► vQ VI / Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 162 APPENDIX. I time that all arrears of rent then due should be paid. " In the civil wars of the sixteenth and seven- teenth centuries the possession of Leighlin Bridge and its castle became an object of much impor- tance to the combatants on both sides. In 1577, when the celebrated chieftain of Leix, Eory Oge O'More, rose in rebellion, among other depreda- tions he burned a part of the town of Leighlin Bridge, and endeavoured to get possession of its castle, which was then feebly garrisoned under the command of Sir George Carew, constable of the fort and town. With the slender force of seven horse, as it is stated by Hooker, but under the cover of night, Carew made a sally on his assailants, numbering two hundred and forty, who, being taken by surprise, lost many men, and the remainder for a time fled. Having coon, however, discovered the extremely small force by which they had been attacked, they rallied, and in turn became the assailants, pursuing Carew's party to the gate of Leighlin Bridge Castle, and some of them even entering within its walls ; but by the bravery of the garrison they were soon expelled. Carew had two men and one horse killed, and every man of his party was wounded. The rebels lost sixteen men, among whom was one of their leaders, which so discom- fited them that they retired, leaving one-half of the town uninjured. " In the great rebellion of 0'N"eill, at the close of the reign of Elizabeth, the Castle of Leighlin Bridge was repaired and garrisoned for the Queen, though the surrounding country was laid k APPENDIX. 163 ' waste by the Kavanaghs. In the beginning of the succeeding reign (1604), the site of the castle, together with that of the monastery, &c., were granted by the king to George Tuchett, Lord Awdeley, to be held of the crown for ever in common soccage. "In the great Rising of 1641, the castle of Leighlin Bridge was garrisoned for the confederate Catholics, in 1646, with one hundred men, under the command of Colonel Walter Bagnall ; it was here also that, in 1647, the Marquis of Ormond assembled his forces to attack the republicans, who had got possession of Dublin ; and he rested his forces here in 1649, It was, however, sur- rendered to the parliamentary forces under Colonel Hewson in the following year, soon after which the main army under Ireton sojourned here for a time, and plundered the surrounding country. Since this period, Leighlin Bridge has enjoyed the blessings of peace, and has made those advances in prosperity which follow in its train. Its market is on Monday and Saturday, amply supplied with corn and butter &c., and it has four well-attended fairs, on Easter Monday, May 14th, September 25th, and December 27the Much beautiful scenery, and many in- teresting remains of antiquity exist in its im- mediate vicinity." 'I III .'. 'J t1 ( 164 APPENDIX. APPENDIX VI. RELICS OF THE KAVANAGHS, IN THE MUSEUM OP TRINITY COLLEGE. The following scraps are given by Mr. Ryan in his " History of Carlow," (pp. 382 and 383), from " the Kavanagh pedigree," prepared by Sir William Betham, in 1817. The pedigree itself does not appear quite satisfactory, nor do these notes on the relics of the race ; but they supply the only information, conjectural or other, which we have found in print : — " The Charter Horn. — The horn is made of ivory, mounted and ornamented with gilt brass. It has been in the possession of the family of Kavanagh of Borris Idrone from a very early period, and is supposed to have originally been the charter horn or tenure by which they held certain estates. The late Thomas Kava- nagh, Esq., with the consent of his son, the present Walter Kavanagh, Esq., presented it to Trinity College, Dublin, where it now remains, and is considered one of the greatest curiosities with which the museum of that University is enriched. "The Figeen. — This curious piece of anti- quity was found in the demesne of Borris in digging a ditch. It is composed of a mixture of silver and tin, and weighs 16 oz. 17 dwts, These APPENDIX. 165 OP are commonly, though erroneously, called * Mo- ran's rings,' which were of a different character, and "rere worn round the neck of the king, and also of the chief brehon or judge, who was prime minister. "The Liath Meisicith, — ^The very curious ancient box, called the Liath Meisicith, was, for many ages an heir-loom in the family of Kava- nagh of Borris Idrone, until it was presented (together with the Charter Horn) as before stated, to the Museum of Trinity College, Dublin, where it is now deposited, and carefully preserved. It is made of brass, cased with silver, and when presented to the University, contained a number of loose sheets of vellum, on which were written some extracts from the Gospel and prayer for the sick, in the Latin language, but in the Irish cha- racter. There were also water colour drawings of the apostles, tolerably well executed, and supposed to have been the work of St. Moling, the patron saint of that part of the country, and who was a member of the family of Kavanagh, as appears by the pedigree ; although the box itsolf is supposed, by General Vallancey, to be of much greater antiquity than the period at which St. Moling flourished." li 166 APPENDIX. V APPEKDIX VII. LETTER PROM SIR THOMAS MORE TO CARDINAL WOLSET, A.D. 1523; CONCERNING THE TOWNS OF NEW ROSS AND WATERPORD. Hit may lyke your good grace to understand that yesternyght the king's grace commanded me to deliver unto your servant, Foreste, a supplica- tion put un to his grace by menne of Waterford, in the name of the citie by which the complaint agaynst the towne of New Kosse, in Ireland, for disturbyng the citie of Waterford, in the use of a certayn graunt of prise wynys, made and con- formed un to theym, as they allegge by the kyng's progenitors : wherein the king's grace com- maunded me to advertise your grace that he calleth to mynd that the citee of Waterford, in all such rebellions as hath happed in Ireland, hath all- ways byden fermely to theire allegiauns, and often tymes done very good and f aithef uU service to the kinge, his father, and other his progenitors ; for which he saith he Ijereth theym, as your grace well knoweth, very especiall favor. His grace saith also, that he knoweth well and your grace also, that there is mych beryng agaynste theym in Ireland, and that ther the citie standeth so in the daynger of the wild Irishe people, that they can not, without great ieopardie, resort for the pur- suit of theyre right in to such placis of Ireland as thd lawes be ministred in. Wherefore, his I 1 [NAL OP APPENDIX, 167 grace commaunded me to write unto your grace, that he requyreth your grace that it may lyke you either in the starre chambre, to examine the mater of the said citee, or ellis to committe the same to the examination of sum justices or others, such as your grace shall thynk convenient, so that they may have erpedition with such lawful! favor, as it may be a cumfort to theym to se that their trew service is by the king and his coun- sail in England considred : whereby, the king's grace thinketh, that other cities and lordia also, in Ireland, shal be encoiaged un to the lyke. Sir, if it lyke your grace, at my retorne, v/hen I spake with to king, his grace was very ioy- full that, notwithstanding your so continuall labors in his maters (in which he saied ye have many moo that appere to theym that see you but at Westminster, or with the counsaile), your grace is so well in health as he hereth by diverse ; and he saith that ye may thank his counsaile thereof, by which ye leve the often taking of medicines that ye were wont to use ; and while ye do so, he saith ye shall not faile of helth, which our Lord long preserve. At Okyng, the 4th day of July. "Your moste humble servant and mosto bounden beedman, "Thomas More. "To my Lord Legat's Grace.** [Sir H, Ellis's Original Letter s, 1st series, vol. 1. p> 196—7.] II 168 APPENDIX. li APPENDIX VITI. CHARTER GRANTED BY KING JAMES THE FIRST TO THE INHABITANTS OF CARLOW. James the First, by the grace of God, of Eng- land, Scotland, France, and Ireland, King, De- fender of the Faith, and soforth. To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting. Know ye, that as well at the humble request of the inha- bitants of the town of Cariow in the county of Carlow in our Province of Leinster and Kingdom of Ireland, as also for the purpose of cultivating and planting those parts in our said kingdom which were depopulated and laid waste accord- ing to the form of our government in our king- dom of England so happily established of our special knowledge and mere motion with the consent of our right well-beloved and trusty counsellor, Arthur, lord Chichester of Belfast, our deputy general of our said kingdom of Ireland, and also according to the tenor and effect of certain letters under our royal signet and sign manual, dated at our palace at Hampton Court, the twenty-ninth day of September, in the tenth year of our reign of England, France, and Ireland, and of Scotland the forty-sixth, and now enrolled in the rolls of our chancery of our said kingdom of Ireland, do drcree, declare and or- dain by these presents that the said town of \ APPENDIX. 169 Carlo w, and all and singular, castles, messuages, tolls, millo, houses, edifices, structures, cortilages, gardens, wastes, soils, waters, rivulets, lands, tenements, and hereditaments whatsoever, with their appurtenances lying or being in or within the said town or village or precincts thereof for ever hereafter shall be one entire and free bo- rough of Carlow, for ever shall be called and named and all and singular the premises into one entire and free borough of itself by the name of the borough of Carlow we do erect, constitute, make, and ordain by these presents. And further, we will, ordain, and decree, by these presents, that within said borough of Carlow there be one body corporate and politique, consisting of one portrieve, twelve free burgesses, and the com- monalty, and that all the inhabitants within the said town and lands for ever hereafter shall ^e by virtue of these presents, one body corporate and politique in deed, fact, and name, by the name of portrieve, free burgesses, and common- alty of the borough of Carlow, one body cor- porate and politique in deed, fact, and name, really and fully for us, our heirs, and successors ; and that they by the name of the portrieve, free burgesses, and commonalty of the borough of Carlow, shall be at all times hereafter persons fit and capable in law to have, acquire, receive, and possess lands, tenements, liberties, privileges, ju- risdictions, franchises, and hereditaments what- soever of whatsoever nature, kind, or species they may be, to them and their successors in fee and perpetuity : and also goods and chattels, and all other things of whatsoever kind, nature, or i i itr i! V I 170 AI*PBNblX. species they be : and also to give, grant, assign, and demise lands, tenements, and hereditaments ; goods and chattels, to do and execute all and singular other acts and things by the name afor» said. And that by the name of the portrieve, free burgesses, and commonalty of the borough of Carlow they may plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered, defend and be defended, before us, our heirs and successors, and before any the justices and judges of us, our heirs, and successors, and others whomsoever, in all the courts of us, our heirs, and successors, and else- where, wheresoever, of and in all and all manner of actions, suits, pleas, quarrels, complaints and demands whatsoever against them or by them in any manner to be prosecuted or obtained : and that the said portriave and free burgesses of the said borough and their successors, for ever may have full power and authority to elect and return two discreet and proper men to serve and attend in every parliament in our said kingdom of Ire- land hereafter to be held, and that the men so elected, sent, and returned, shall have full power and authority to consult and treat of those mat- ters and things which to them and others shall be declared or expounded, and therefore freely to give their votes and suffrages and to do and execute all other things as fully as any other burgess of any other ancient borough in our said kingdom of Ireland or in our said kingdom of England in the parliament there have been used to do or execute. Wherefore, we will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs, and successors, we do give and grant to the said portrieve and . APPENDIX. 171 , free 1 irgesses of the said borough and their suc- cessors, and also order and firmly for us, our heirs and successors, command all the sheriffs, ofiicers, ministers of us, our heirs, and successors, whomsoever of our said county of Carlow for the time being to whom any of our writ or writs for the election of burgesses of parliament within our said county of Carlow at any time shall bo directed, that every such sheriff, officer, or minis- ter to whom any such writ or writs as aforesaid shall be directed, shall make his precept to the portrieve and free burgesses of the said borough of Carlow for the time being for the election and return of such two burgesses according to the form and effect of such writ or writs : And these our letters patt its or the inrollment thereof shall be as well to the said portrieve and free burgesses of the said borough and to their successors as to all and singular the sheriffs, officers, and minis- ters of us, our heirs, and successors, whomsoever, a sufficient warrant and discharge in this behalf. And intending that hereafter it may appear that this new corporation was first composed of good and honest men, wb do make, constitute, and name, John Kerton, gent., the first and modern portrieve of said borough, to continue in said office until the feast of St. Michael the archangel next after the date of these presents ; and we do likewise make, constitute, and name, John Bare, Esq., our serjeant-at-law, in our said kingdom of Ireland, Sir Kobert Jacob, knight. Sir Adam Loftus of Eathfarnham, Anthony St. Ledger, Peter "Wright, William Greatrake, Nicholas Harman, John Bromfield, John Ely, Kobert f !; \r 172 APPENDIX. i I f Wliitacre, Robert Sutton, and Richard Keating, to be the first and modern twelve free burgesses of the said borough to continue in the said office of free burgesses of the said borough during their several lives, unless in the mean time, for mis- conduct or any reasonable cause they or any of them be removed from the' said offices, and that all the inhabitants of the said town and such and so many other men as the portrieve and free burgesses of the said towns for the time being shall admit to the freedom of the same borough we will constitute and ordain shall be the com- monalty of the said borough. And further we will, that the said John Kerton, whom by these presents we have made portrieve of the said borough, shall come before our justices at the next general assizes after the date of these pre- sents, to be held within our said county of Car- low, and shall in due manner take as well the oath commonly called the oath of supremacy as also his corporal oath well and faithfully to ex- ecute his office of portrieve of the said borough until the feast of St. Michael the archangel then next following, as aforesaid ; and that the said portrieve of the borough be annual and elective, and therefore we will, and by these preset -o for us, our heirs, and successors do grant to the said portrieve, free burgesses, and commonalty of the said borough and their successors, that the said portrieve and free burgesses of the said borough for the time being, for ever, every year at the feast of the nativity of St. John the Bap- tist can and may assemble themselves in any convenient place within the said borough, and m\ APPENDIX. 173 ting, esses office their mis- ly of that such free that the said portrieve and free burgesses so — vjabled or the major part of them before they depart may there elect one of the more discreet free burgesses of the said borough to exercise the office of the portrieve for one year from the feast of St. Michael then next following, and until another of the burgesses of that said bo- rough into that office shall be in due manner elected, perfected, and sworn, and that every portrieve so elected before be admitted to exer- cise that or be considered as portrieve shall take as well the oath commonly called the oath of supremacy, as also his corporal oath well and iDruly to execute the office of portrieve of the said borough, at the feast of St. Michael the arch- angel, next after such his election, before the portrieve, who the year before had preceded him in that office. And wb grant full power and authority to every last predecessor of every por- trieve of said borough for the time being to take the said oath from every such portrieve to be newly elected. And moreover, of our like special grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, we will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs, and successors, do grant to the said portrieve, free burgesses and commonalty of the said borough and their successors, that if, and whenever it shall happen that the portrieve of the said bo- rough for the time being within one year after he be elected and sworn into the office of por- trieve of the said borough as aforesaid shall die, or in any manner vacate said office, that then, and so often the free burgesses and commonalty of the said borough and their successors can and ^ » 1 1 hi It 174 APPENDIX. may within the space of fifteen days next after such vacancy, elect another fit person out of the said number of free burgesses to be portrieve of the said borough for the remainder of that year to rule and govern said borough, and that every person or persons so elected to the office of por- trieve of the said borough can and may execute the office of portrieve of the said borough until the feast of St. Michael the archangel next fol- lowing such his election, first taking the oath called the oath of supremacy, and also the oath for the due execution of his office of portrieve. And further of our special grace, certain know- ledge, and mere motion, we will and by these presents for us, our heirs, and successors do grant to the said portrieve, free burgesses, and com- monalty of said borough and their successors, that if any of the said free burgesses of the said borough as aforesaid in these presents named, or any of the free burgesses of the said borough hereafter to be elected shall die or be removed from that office while free burgesses, and every of them for misconduct in that office, we will shall be amoveable at pleasure of the portrieve, and the major part of the free burgesses of the said borough for the time being, that then the portrieve, and the remaining free burgesses of the said borough for the time being, within seven days next after the death or removal of such free burgesses can and may assemble them- selves in any convenient place within the said borough, and that the said portrieve and free burgesses, so assembled, or the major part of them, before they depart can and may elect one, APPENDIX. 175 I or so many as shall be wanting of the said num- ber of twelve free burgesses, out of the better and more honest inhabitants of the said borough, into the place or places of such free burgess or burgesses, so dead or removed from that ofl&ce, to continue in the said office during their natural lives, unless in the meantime for misconduct, or ill-government, in that behalf they or any of them be removed, and that every person so elected into office of a free burgess of the said borough before he be admitted to execute that office, shall take his corporal oath, well and truly to execute his office of a free burgess of the said borough, within seven days after such his elec- tion, before the portrieve of the said borough for the time being, or before the remaining free bur- gesses of the said borough, then surviving and remaining in that office, or the major part of them, to which portrieve for the time being, or to which free burgesses or the major part of them, for the time being, we do give and grant full power and authority to take the said oath, from every such free burgess to be newly elected, and so often as the case shall happen. And further of our special grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, we will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs, and successors, do grant to the said portrieve, free burgesses, and commonalty of the said borough, and their successors, that they and their successors, for ever, can and may have hold one court in any convenient and open place within the said borough, to be held before the protrieve of the said borough, for the time being, and in the said court to hold pleas on 176 APPENDIX. 1 1 i every Monday, from week to week, of all and singular actions of debt, covenant, trespass, de- tenue, contract, and personal demands whatso- ever, not exceeding the sum of live marks ster- ling, which shall arise or happen within the said borough, or the liberties thereof, and that said court be reputed and held a court of record for ever. We will also, and of our more abundant special grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, by these presents for us, our heirs, and successors do grant to the said portrieve, free burgesses, and commonalty of the said borough and their suc- cessors, for ever, that they and their successors, from time to time, as often as they shall think ei:pedient, can and may meet and assemble them- selves in any convenient place within the said borough, and in their meetings there, make, decree, ordain, and establish, such and the like acts, ordinances, and by-laws for the good rule and sound government of the srdd borough, and the inhabitants thereof, as to them or the major part of them shall think necessary; and that they shall have power and authority by fines and pecuniary mulcts to punish, chastise, and correct, any persons breaking through such acts, ordinances, and by-laws, provided said acts, ordinances, and by-laws, fines and mulcts be reason- able and not contrary or repugnant to the laws and statutes of our said kingdom of Ireland. And further, we will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs, and successors, do grant to the said portrieve, free burgesses, and com- monalty of the said borough, and their succes- sors, for ever, that they may have a guild mer- APl'ENDIX. 177 catory within the said borough, and one common seal, engraven with such form and device as to them shall seem fit, to serve for ever for the affairs of the said borough, and that they can and may, from time to time, as often as need shall require, out of themselves elect, constitute, and ordain two serjeants-at-mace, and the other in- ferior officers and ministers necessary for the better government of the said borough and the inhabitants thereof, and every person, so from time to time elected, constituted, and ordained, WE do make, constitute, and ordain to be the serjeant-at-mace and other officers and ministers of the said borough respectively, and to continue in their offices during their good behaviour, or at the will and pleasure of the portrieve, free bur- gesses, and commonalty of the said borough; and that every such serjear t, officer, and minister before he be permitted to exercise his office, shall take before the portrieve of the said bo- rough, for the time being, his corporal oath well and truly to exercise his office. And further of our special grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, we will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs, and successors, do give and grant to the said portrieve, free burgesses, and commonalty of the said borough, for ever, that the portrieve of the said borough for the time being, for ever, shall be the clerk of the market within the said borough and the liberties thereof, and shall from time to time have full power and authority to do and execute all things to the office of clerk of the market within the said borough belonging or appertaining i so that no other cleik of the ?.r 178 APPENDIX. ! i market of us, our heirs, and successors, shall enter into the borough aforesaid, or the fran- chises thereof, to do or execute the office of clerk of the market or any thing to the said office be- longing or appertaining, or in any manner interfere with any thing touching the office of clerk of the market within the said borough, or the liberties thereof. And further, of our more ample special grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, we grant to the portrieve, free burgesses, and com- monalty of the said borough and their successors, for ever, that these our letters patent and every article and clause therein contained, or the enroll- ment thereof, shall be construed, interpreted, and adjudged to the best advantage, benefit, and favour of the said portrieve, free burgesses, and commonalty of the said borough and their suc- cessors against us, our heirs, and successors, as well in all the courts of us within our said king- dom of Ireland, or elsewhere, wheresoever, with- out any confirmation, license, or toleration here- after to be procured or obtained ; notwithstanding that our writ of ad quod damnum hath not issued to inquire of the premises before the making of these our letters patents; and notwithstanding any other defect or any other thing, cause, or matter whatsoever to the contrary notwithstand- ing. Because, &c., we will also, &c., without fine in the Hamper, &c. In witness whereof we have caused these our letters to be made patent. Witness our aforesaid deputy general of our kingdom of Ireland, at Dublin, the . nineteenth day of April in the eleventh year of our reign of APPENDIX. 179 England, Franco, and Ireland, and of Scotland the forty-sixth. essors, every enroll- preted, it, and 5S, and ir suc- ors, as L king- , with- 1 here- anding issued :ing of anding ase, or istand- )ut fine of we patent, of our jteenth reign of APPENDIX IX. " THE PALE " UNDER HENRY THE FOURTh's LIEU- TENANTS. Sir Harris Nicolas (Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England, vol. II. p. iv. et seq.), describes " a highly interesting document illustrative of the history of Ireland at the begin- ning of the fifteenth contury," which is one of several " articles" introduced at the end of the council book of the reign, Henry IV. His de- scription is as follows ; — " It appears to be the fragment of a petition embodying the complaints of the Commons of Ireland, accompanied by notes explanatory or corroborative of the several statements, and giving instances of the grievances complained of. The date of the document is not known ; and though it might be inferred from some part that it was drawn up in the time of Richard II., the manner in which that mon- arch is mentioned renders it very improbable that he was then the reigning sovereign ; it is therefore placed among the articles of the time of his successor. " The Commons stated, that when the whole of Ireland was possessed by the English and in good condition, the people were governed by the King's Courts of Law ; that is to say, the Chan- 180 APPENDIX. eery, the King's Bench, the Common Bench, and the Exchequer, having their several jurisdictions according to the laws of England ; and that the ancient customs and usages of the land were properly observed ; but that now great part of the country was devastated and destroyed by enemies and rebels ; and that in consequence of there being so many commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, some of whom were persons learned in the law, whilst others were ignorant thereof, all pleas were tried before them, as well those be- longing to the Common Law Courts as to the Court of Chancery, to the serious injury of the said courts, the subversion of the law, and against the ancient usages of the land. The people were, it is said, daily harassed and dis- tressed by the commissioners, particularly in the counties of Dublin, Meath, Kildare, and Louth ; they were impoverished by summonses and dis- tresses ; husbandry was neglected, and tenants were unable to pay the rents and dues to their lords ; many good towns and hamlets were ruined; several loyal persons, as well great lords and other gentles, as commoners, were so frequently indicted before the commissioners by irresponsible individuals, not inhabitants of the counties where the indictment occurred, that no one knew whether he was indicted or not, or whether he had or had not been outlawed; hence they were often annoyed and compelled to incur great expense in law proceedings for their security. In numerous cases the lands of the lords and others were so suddenly and secretly seized into the king's hands bv the commission- APPENDIX. 181 1, and ctions it the were art of ed by ice of er and ned in cf, all >se be- to the of the and . The ad dis- in the Liouth ; nd dis- benants D their \ "were great vevQ so lers by of the ihat no lot, OT ilawed ; npelled ngs for mds of secretly aisaion- ers that none knew whether hia property was seized or not. Lands were sometimes kept until three or four days after the rent became payable, by which proceeding the owners lost it, after which the land was let to farm by patents, to the commissioners themselves or other officers or councillors oi the king; and great impedi- ments were thrown in the way of the proprietors lecovering their property by law ; and it is added that the said prelates, lords, gentles, and commons, were disgusted with their lives, from being impoverished and injured by law- suits, as by their Petition to Parliament plainly appeared. " In the note to these statements it is said, that formerly the Commission to Justices in Eyre did not contain more than eight lines at the most, and now they contained forty or sixty ; and it is added that Justices in Eyre were abolished in England by Edward III., because the country would not submit to their jurisdiction, an asser- tion not borne out by the fact. " The Commons then complained of the ex- actions of the soldiers, who took goods and pro- visions without payment ; and the conduct of the soldiers and kernes in the lordship of the Earl of Ormond, is cited as evidence of the truth of the allegation. The next complaint was that, in defiance of Magna Charta, many churchmen, lords, gentles, and others of the king's subjects were daily imprisoned, without any legal process, and compelled to purchase charters of pardon, their property being considered as forfeited, and this was done as well by sherififs, justices of th^ 182 APPENDIX. li I I peace, and other ministers of the king as by soldiers. In proof of this statement, it is said, the Lieutenant of Ireland received 80 marks of the goods of the Archbishop of Armagh, and that ho took to the value of £40, of the goods of the Archdeacon of Kildare. Among several other instances, Sir Nicholas Alger is said to have been imprisoned until the Lieutenant obtained a missal worth ten marks and forty marks in money ; and John Tainer, parson of Newcastle, was taken by soldiers, called John of Liverpool, to Grane, thence to the castle of Wicklow among the Irish enemies, where he was ransomed for five pound, and a grant of lands; but the next morning some other soldiers went to Tainer*s cottage and seized a pipe of wine for the Lieutenant's use, broke open his coffers, and did what they pleased. He petitioned for redress in a great council at Naas, but the Lieutenant forbad the petitioners counsel from mentioning the subject ; and this had occurred to many others. "The Commons also stated, that ever since the conquest, such of the king's subjects as made any of the Irish enemies prisoners in war, were entitled to their ransom, but several instances where this custom had been violated by the Lieutenant's soldiers are adduced; that the country was greatly devastated by kernes and idle people, as well on foot as on horseback, who paid nothing for provisions ; and that whenever their demands were not complied with, they levied distresses, placing the males in irons, and retaining their goods until they received the money that they asked, APPENDIX. 183 as by- said, of the lat ho )f the other Bbeen missal ; and en by jrane, Irish >ound, )rning ;e and s use, eased. Lcil at ioners 1 this since made were tances J the b the s and :, who >never they s, and 1 the " The Commons of the small county of Louth complained that the commissioners had issued an order to distress Aghy MacMahon, and other Irish, the king's enemies, on the county, to the im- poverishment of his subjects therein and against the law, the which Irish refused to accept such food as the complainants themselves used; but were dispersed with their *caifs,' nurses, and children, throughout the country, espying by day and night all the roads and fortresses, whence the greatest mischief might hereafter arise ; and they therefore prayed that MacMahon and the other enemies might be sent out of the county. Complaints were likewise made of purveyances for the household of the lieutenants and other governors of Ireland, who not only paid nothing for what they took, but made their exactions much more frequently than was necessary ; and by accepting money for realising their seizures from some persons, they caused great oppression to others. This is said to have happened to the abbot of Mellifont, to Sir John Belyng, and to a hundred other persons who did not complain because there was no remedy. ** Memoranda occur on the back of this paper, that in the message sent by the Earl of Ormond, and in all letters from Lim reflecting that mes- sage, to the king's broth jrs, and to the council, and to the Earl of March, it is stated that the presence of the king was greatly desired in Ireland ; and several curious notices are added, proving, chiefly out of Cambrensis Eversus, the right of the kings of England to Ireland." Such is the account of this Petition. In Sir I 5 184 APPENDIX. H. Ellis^s Orig. Letters, (second series) vol L, no. xix. p. 53, is a very curious document of this class, written by the !^glish of Kildare to secure che continuance of Lord Furnival in the Lieute- nancy of Ireland. It does not, however, refer to Leinster, but rather to the Deputy's services against O'More, O'Eeilly, and O'Hanlon. It was a common custom of the Anglo-Irish, to send such petitions on behalf of governors whom they loved or feared. APPENDIX X. A LIST OF THE CHIEF GOVERNORS OF THE ENGLISH COLONY IN IRELAND, UNDER EDWARD IL AND IIL, RICHARD II., AND HENRY IV., V., AND VL, PROM A.D. 1807 TO A.D. 1460. » UNDER EDWARD II. 1307. Sir John Wogan continued L.J, Aug. 1308. Sir William Burk, D. Gust. 10 Mar. 1308. Piers de Gaveston, Earl of Corn- wall, L.L. 23 June, 1309. Sir John Wogan, L. J. 1312. Sir Edward Butler, D. Gust. 31 Dec. 13U. Sir Theobald de Verdan, D. Con. ♦ Explanation of Abbreviations, — Abp. Archbishop; Bp, Bishop ; 0. J. Chief Justice ; 0. PI. Common Pleas ; Gust. Gustos, a governor under that name ; E. Earl ; L. Lord ; L. G. Lord Chancellor ; L. G. J. Lord Chief Justice ; L. L. Lord Lieutenant ; L. D. Lord Deputy ; L, Con. Lord Constable; lu T. Lord Treasurer; P. Prior. pi I APPENDIX. 185 LJ. 27 Feb, 1315. 1317. Sir Edmund Butler, D. Oust. Sir Koger Mortimer, afterwards Earl of March, L. J. 6 May, 1318. William Fitzjohn, Abp. of Cash- ell, D. Gust. 7 Oct. 1318. Alexander Bickner, Abp. (John XXII., Pope) of Dublin, L.D. Sir Roger Mortimer, returned L.J. Thomas Fitzjohn Fitzgerald, Earl of Kiluare, L.D. June, 1321. Jo. Bermingham, L. Athenree, and E. of Louth, L.J. Ralph de Gorges, L.D. Sir John Darcy, L.D. Sir Thomas Bourk, L.D. Sir John Darcy, returned L. J. 1319. 1320. April, 1322. 2 Feb. 1322. 1323. 1324. UNDER EDWABD IIL 1326. Thomas, Earl of Kildare, L.J. 6 April, 1328. Roger Outlaw, P. of Kilmain- ham, and L.C. elected L.J. Salary at this time X500 per annum. .328. Sir John Darcy, L.J. 1329. Roger Outlaw, again L.J. 1329. James Botiller, E. of Ormond, L.L. 1330. Roger Outlaw, again L.D. 3 June, 1331. Sir Anthony Lucy, L.L. 1332. Sir John Darcy, L. J. 1333. Sir Thomas de Burgh, a clergy- man, and L.T., L.I). 1334. Sir John Darcy, returned L.J. 186 APPENDIX. I ' fl t f' ! 13 Oct. 1337. 31 July, 1338. 10 April, 1340, 13 May, 1340. 1341. 13 July, 1344. 10 April, 1346. 19 June, 1346. 27 Nov. 1347. 1348. 20 Dec. 1349. 20 Dec. 1349. 1351. 1353. 9 Aug. 1353. 1356. 2 Aug. 1357. Sir John Chariton, L. J. Thomas Chariton, Bp. of Here- ford, L.C., and brother to Sir John, L.D. 1. Roger Outlaw, again L. J., died Feb. 1340. Sir John Darcy, for life, L. J. Sir John Morris, L.D. Sir Ralph Ufford, husband to the Countess of Ulster, L.J. Sir Roger Darcy, second son to Sir John Darcy, elected L.J. Sir Walter Bermingham, L.J. John Archer, P. of Kilmain- ham, L.D. Sir Walter Bermingham re- turned L. J. Sir John de Carew, Baron de Carew, L.J. Sir Thomas Rokeby, L. J. Maurice de Rochfort, Bp. of Li- merick, L.D. Sir Thos. Rokeby, returned L.J. Maurice Fitz-Thomas Fitzge- rald, Earl of Desmond, for life, died the 25th January following, L.J. Sir Thomas Rokeby, L. J. He died the same year. Sir Almarick de St. Amand, L. J. He had forty men at arms, and one hundred archers on horseback, assigned to attend him, over and above the num- APPENDIX. 187 Here- to Sir .,died ^. J* ,nd to L.J. ton to I L.J. L.J. Imain- m re- on de of Li- id L.J. Fitzge- id, for anuary He d, L. J. arms, ers on attend |3 num- ber of the retinue which be- longed to this office. 14 April, 1359. James Butler, Earl of Ormond, L.J. 30 Mar. 1360. Maurice Fitz-Thomas Fitzge- raid, Earl of Kildare, L.D. 15 Mar. 1360, 1. James Butler, Earl of Or- mond, L.J. 1 July, 1361. Lionel Duke of Clarence, Earl of Ulster, Lord of Conaught, third son of King Edward, L.L., arrived 8th of Septem- ber ; he was the first that was styled Locumtenens or L.L. by patent. He vanquished the O'Briens. 22 April, 1364. James Butler, E. of Ormond, L.D. 8 Dec. 1364. Lionel, Duke of Clarence, re- turned L.L. from having con- quered the county of Clare, and assumed the title of Cla- rence, 1365. Sir Thomas Dale, L.D. 1367. Lionel, Duke of Clarence re- turned L.L. 1367. Gerald Fitzmaurice, Earl of Desmond, L.J. 20 June, 1369. Sir William de Windsor, L.L. 22 Mar. 1371, 2. Maurice, Earl of Kildare. 28 April, 1372. Sir Kobert de Asheton, L.J. 1372. Ealph Cheney, Deputy to Ashe- ton, but quitting the govern- ment, was succeeded by 188 APPENDIX. 3 Dec. 1372. WiUiam Taney, P. of Kilmain- ham, acted as L.D. 1373. Sir John Asheton, said to be L.J. 20 Sep. 1373. Sir William de Windsor, re- turned L.L., but William Ta- ney, P. of Kilmainham, L.D. 18 April, 1374. until belauded, 18 April 1374, and was sworn the 4th of May, following, before the Council of Kilkenny. 16 Feb. 1375, 6. Maurice Fitz-Thomas, Earl of Kildare, L. J. 24 July, 1376. James Butler, E. of Ormond, L.J. UNDER RICHARD II. 20 Jan. 1377. James Butler, Earl of Ormond, continued L.J. The salary now £500 per annum. 16 June, 1378. Alexander Balscot, alias Petit, Bp. of Ossory. Nov. 1379. John de Bromwich, L.J.* 24 Jan. 1379, 80. Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, and Ulster, L.L. in June, 1380, and died at St. Dominick's Abbey, near Cork, 26 Dec, 1381. 27 Dee. 1381. John Colton, Dean of St. Pa- trick's, Dublin, L.C., elected L. J., (afterwards Abp. of Ar- • Gregory XI. Pope. APPENDIX. 189 Earl magli,) at Cork,* or, according to others, on the 10th of Ja- nuary; and constituted by 20 Jan. 1381, 2. patent, with £500 fee, for which he was to keep twenty men at arms. 24 Jan. 1381, 2. Eoger Mortimer, Earl of March and Ulster, L.L. 3 Mar. 1381, 2. Sir Thomas Mortimer, C.J. C. PI. on account of the mi- nority of Roger, constituted L.D. by patent. 1383. Philip de Courtney, the King's cousin, for ten years L.L- but the Lord Bermingham, Gen. 1384. James Eutler, E. of Ormond, L.D. 10 Oct. 1384. Dec. 1384. 18 Sept. 1385. 1386. 26 April, 1387. 1387. 1 Aug. 1389. King Eichard II. landed in Ireland. Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, Marquis of Dublin, and after- wards Duke of Ireland, L.L., but declining to come over. Sir John Stanley was made L.D. Philip de Courtney, L.L. re- turned. Alexander de Balscot, alias Petit, Bp. of Meath, L.J. t Richard White, P. of Kilmain- ham, L.J. Sir John Stanley, L.L. * Urban VI. Pope. ♦ Urban VI. Pope. 190 APPENDTi. 4 Oct. 1389. 1389. 25 July, 1392. July, 1393. 26 April, 1394. 2 Oct. 1394. 4 July, 1395. 21 July, 1398. 7 Oct. 1398. 1 June, 1399. Eichard White, Prior of Kil- mainham, L.T., and Sir Ro- bert Preston, Keeper of the Seal, made Justices till Stan- ley's arrival, who landed at Howth, 22nd of th3 same month, and was sworn into office the 25th. Sir John Stanley, returned L.L. James Butler, E. of Ormond, L.J. Thomas of Woodstock, Duko of Gloucester, L.L., but never came over. Sir Thomas Scroop, L.J. King Eichard in person, landed in Waterford. Eoger Mortimer, Earl of March and Ulster, Lord of Wigmore, Trim, Clare, and Conaught, L.L. He was slain by the O'Briens and others at Ken- lis, in the Queen's county, on the 20th July, 1398. Eoger Grey, elected L.J. on the death of Mortimer. Thomas Holland, Duke of Surry, Earl of Kent, Lord Wake, and half-brother to the king, L.L., arrived in Dublin on Saint Mark's day. King Eichard landed at Water- ford with two hundred ships, to revenge the death of his L.L. Eoger, Earl of March. APPENDIX. 191 UNDER HENRY IV. 10 Dec. 1399. Sir John Stanley for three years, L.L. 1400. Alexander Balscot, Bishop of Meath, L.D.*' May, 14,01. Sir William Stanley, brother to Sir John, L.D. 23 Aug. 1401. Sir Stephen Scroop, L.D. 13 Nov. 1401. Thomas, Duke of Lancaster, Seneschal of England, Lord of Hcldernesse, (the King's son) L.L. landed, having been so appointed 10th of March before for twenty-one years. He left Ireland about feast of St. Martin, and ap- pointed Sir Stephen Scroop his deputy. Sir Stephen Scroop, L.D. He went to England in the Lent following, and James Butler, Earl of Ormond, was chosen L.J. by the Council, and 26th October, 1404, he was ap- pointed by the King. He died in the government on the 7th of September, 1405. 7 Sept. 1405. Gerald Fitzgerald, Earl of Kil- dare, L.J. 1406. Thomas, Duke of Lancaster, &c. L.L. for twelve years. Oct. 1406. Sir Stephen Scroop, L D. ; he 11 Nov. 1403. * Boniface IX. Pope. 192 APPENDIX. died of the plague in 1408, at Castle Dermot. 18 Dec. 1407. James Butler, Earl of Ormond, in the absence of Scroop, L.D. 2 Aug. 1408. Thomas Duke of Lancaster, the King's son, L.L. for seven years; 7000 marks were al- lowed him for executing the office. 13 Mar. 1408, 9. Thomas Butler, Prior of Kil- mainham, L.D. UNDER HENRY V. 1412, 13. Thomas, Prior of Kilmain- ham, continued L.D. 25 Sept. 1413. Sir John Stanley, ancestor to the Earls of Derby, L.L. landed at Clontarffe, and died in the government at Ardee, on the 7 th or 8th of January following. 22 Jan. 1413, 14. Thomas Cranley, Arch- bishop* of Dublin, and L.C. elected on Stanley's death L. J. 10 Nov. 1414. Sir John Talbot, of Halomshire, afterwards Lord Furnival, L.L. landed at Dalkey on the evening of St. Martin, and on the feast of St. Magdalen returned to England. 22 July, 1419. Eichard Talbot,t Archbishop of ♦ JoL 1, XXIII. summoned Archbishop of Dublin to assist at General Council of Pisa, t Martin V. Pope. APPENDIX. 193 )8,at aond, L.D. r, the seven re al- ig the f Kil- Imain- bor to L.L. ddied irdee, muary Arch- [iL.C. ih L. J. ashire, rnival, on the and on gdalen hop of itlin to Dublin, and brother to Sir John, L.D. 10 Feb. 1419, 20. James Butler, Earl of Or- mond, L.L., landed at Water- ford on the 10th of April 1420. UNDER HENRY VI. Sept. 1422. James, Earl of Ormond, con- tinued L.L. 9 May, 1423. Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March and Ulster, L.L. for nine years, with a more ex- tensive authority than usual ; he died of the plague, at hi& Castle of Trim. 4 Aug. 1423. Richard Talbot,* Abp. of Dub- lin, L.J. 4 Aug. 1423. Edward Dantsey,* Bp. of Meath, L.D. by the Earl of March's appointment, whose letters patent being read to Richard,* Abp. of Dublin, L.J. and tlie Council, they were, after de- liberation judged insufficient and ineffectual in law, and the Abp. continued L.J. 1424. James, Earl of Ormond, L.D. 1424. Edward Dantsey, Bp. of Meath, L.D. 1425. Sir Jolm Talbot, Lord Furnival, L.J. * Martin V. Pope. N ' ]■ 194 APPENDIX. 1425. James, Earl of Ormond, L.D. 15 April, 1426. James, Earl of Ormond, L.J. 1 Aug. 1427. Sir John de Grey, L.L. He landed at Howth 31st July, and took the oath in the castle of Swords, 1st August, before the Abp.* of Dublin, Lord Chancellor. 26 Mar. 1428. Edward Dantsey, Bishop of Meath, L.D. He died in the government, 4th of Janu- ary following. Jan. 1428, 9. Sir John Sutton, Lord Dud- ley, L.L. 1429. Sir Thomas Strange, L.D. 1430. Kichard Talbot,* Abp. of Dublin, T T 1432. Sir Thomas Stanley, L.L. 1432. Sir Christopher Plunket, L.D. 1435. Sir Thomas Stanley returned L.L. 1436. Kichard Talbot, Abp. of Dublin, L.D. 1438. Lionel, Lord Wells, L.L. but never came over, 1440. Kichard Talbot, Abp. of Dublin, L.J. 1440. James Butler, Earl of Ormond, L.D. 1440. Lionel, Lord Wells, L.L. who not coming over, ♦ Martin V. Pope. APPENDIX. 195 .D. .J. . He July, n the ugust, Dublin, )p of ied in : Janu- i Dud- Dublin, L.D. ^turned Dublin, L. but Dublin, rmond, L. who 1440. 1442. 1443. 1445. 1446. 1447. 6 July, 1449. 1449. 1451. 1 May, 1453. 19 June, 1453. 1454. 1454. James Butler, Earl of Ormond, was appointed L.D. "William Wells, Esq., brother to Lord Wells, L.D. James Butler, E. of Ormond,L.L. Eichard Talbot,* Abp. of Dublin, L.J. John Talbot, Earl of Shrews- bury, L.L. Eichard Talbot,f Abp. of Dublin, Li.Kj-f L.D. Eichard Plantagenet, Duke of York, Earl of Ulster, March, Eutland, and Cork, Lord of Connaught, Clare, Trim, and Meath, constituted L.L. by patent for a term of ten years, with extraordinary authority. Eichard Nugent, Baron of Del- vin, L.D. James Butler, Earl of Ormond, afterwards Earl of Wiltshire, and Lord Treasurer of Eng- land, L.D. and he was appointed L.L. John Mey,t Abp. of Armagh, L.D. Thomas Fitzmaurice, Earl of Kildare, L.D. Sir Edward Fitz-Eustace, L.D. ♦ Eugene IV. Pope, t Nicholas "V. Pope. i •' I 196 APPENDIX. He died in the government that year. 1455. Thomas, Earl of Kildare, L.D. 1459. Eichard Plantagenet, Duke of York, LL. He contracted for £2000 in addition to the Irish revenues, to support the government for ten years. 1460. Thomas, Earl of Kilda: , L.D. APPENDIX XI. ART MAO MURROUGH. ANNALid OF FOUR MASTERS* A.D. 1361 — Art Mac Murrough, King of Leinster, and Donnell Reagh, heir apparent to the throne of Leinster, were treacherously made prisoners by the son of the King of England, (Lionel, Duke of Clarenco). They afterwards died in prison. A.D. 1394 — An army was led by Art Mac Murrough, King of Leinster, against the English ; and he burned Ross-mic-Triuin [New Ross], with its houses and castles, and carried away from it gold, silver, and hostages. A.D. 1394 — Mac Murrough, i.e., Art, the son of Art, waged war with the King of England and his people, and numbers of them were slain by him. He went at last to the King's house at the solicitation of the English and Irish of Leinster; but he was detained a prisoner, on account of the complaint of the Lord Justice, i,e. the Earl of Ormond. He was afterwards APPENDIX. 197 iment L.D. ke of cactecl to the lit the rs. LD. STBRS* Ig of ent to made gland, cwards Mac iglish ; ], with rom it le son nd and Lain by mse at ish of ler, on }ice, i,e. irwards liberated ; but O'Brien, O'More, and John CNolan, were kept in custody after him. A.D. 1395 — The King of England departed from Ireland in May, after a great number of the English and Irish [Chiefs] of Ireland had gone into his house ; and Mortimer was left by the King in Ireland as his representative. Although Mac Murrough had gone into the King's house he did not afterwards keep faith with him. A.D. 1413 — A victory was gained by Mac Murrough (Art, the son of Art Kavanagh), Lord of Leinster, over the English at Wexford ; and great numbers slain and made prisoners. APPENDIX XII. April 29th, 1282.— The Earl Marshal has complained to the King, that the justiciary of Ireland exacts from him 100 marks for the decapitation of Art Mac Murrough, who was then at peace with the King. KoU of payments — 1281. — David de Fynton claims for his expenses in conducting Mac Murrough to Dummas, and thence to Dublin for fresh imprisonment the sum of £10. 1282 — The Betagii and other men of the king in the valley of Dublin, in part payment £19 2s. compensation for the depredations of Art Mac Murrough and his accomplices. 1284. — The capitation Eestagium of Art Mac Murrough, to pacify. July 24th, 1280. — Letters of safe conduct for one year for Mac Murrough, Art, and John, Irish- men, whom Roya Bygod, Earl of Norfolk takes 198 APPENDIX. with him into England. — SweetmaiCs Kahndar of State Pajom, 1252—1284. APPENDIX Xni A story* illustrative of the Irish border war- fare, at this period, was narrated by Henry Cryst^de, to Sir John Froissart, who describes him as a very agreeable, prudent man, speaking French well, and bearing for arms a chevron gules on a field argent, with three besant gules, two above the chevron and one below. Cryst^de and Froissart met in the royal chamber at Eltham, on the Sunday on which the latter presented to Richard II. his treatise " On Loves," with which, the author tells us, the King had reason to be pleased, for it was handsomely written and illuminated, bound in crimson velvet, having ten silver gilt studs, and roses of the same in the middle, two large clasps of silver gilt, richly worked, with roses in the centre. "I," said Cryst^de to the chronicler, "know the language of the Irish, as *./ell as I do French and English, for from my youth I was educated amongst them, and the Earl of Ormonde kept me with him out of affection for my good horseman- ship. It happened that this Earl was sent with three hundred lances and one thousand archers to make war on the frontier of the Irish ; for the English had kept up a constant warfare against them, in hopes of bringing them under * An English Esquire. Gilbert's History of the Yiceroys of Ireland. Dahlin : James Duffy & Sons. APPENDIX. 199 \dar of er war- Henry Bscribes Deaking hevron t gules, ryst^de iber at e latter Loves," ing had dsomely 1 velvet, J of the Df silver I centre. " know ) French sducated kept me arseman- ent with 1 archers ?ish ) for warfare im under y of the Sous. their subjection. The Earl of Ormonde, whose lands bordered on his opponents, had that day mounted me on one of his best and fleetest coursers, and I rode by his side. The Irish having formed an ambuscade to surprise the English, advanced from it, commencing to cast and throw their darts ; but were so sharply attacked by the archers, whose arrows they could not withstand, for they were not armed against them, that they soon retreated. The Earl pur- sued them, and I," continued Cryst^de, " being well mounted, kept close by him. It chanced that in the pursuit my horse took fright, and ran away with me, in spite of all my efforts, into the midst of the enemy. My friends could never overtake me ; and in passing through the Irish one of them, by a great feat of agility, leaped on the back of my horse, and held me tight with both his arms, but did me no harm with lance or knife. Turning my horse he rode with me for more than two hours, till we reached a large bush in a very retired spot, where he found his companions, who had retreated thither from the English. He seemed much rejoiced to have made me his prisoner, and carried me to his house, which was strong, and in a town sur- rounded with wood, palisades, and still water ; the name of this town was Herpelipin. The gentleman who had taken me was called Brin Costerec, a very handsome man. This Brin kept me with him seven years, and gave me his daughter in marriage, by whom I have two girls. I will now," said Cryst^e, "tell you how I obtained my liberty. It happened in the seventh year of my captivity, that one of their KingiEf, ■fl 1 ' f f r • ii i 200 APPENDIX. Alt Mac Murragh, King of Leinster, raised an army against Lionel, Duke of Clarence, son to King Edward of England, and both armies met very near the city of Leinster. In the battle that followed, many were slain and taken on both sides ; but the English gaining the day, the Irish were forced to retreat, and the King of Leinster escaped. The father of my wife was made prisoner under the banner of the Duke of Clarence; and asBrinCosterec was mounted on my horse, which was remembered to have belonged to the Earl of Ormonde, it was then first known that I waa alive, that he had honourably entertained me at his house in Herpelipin, and given me his daughter in marriage. The Duke of Clarence, Sir William de Windsor, and all of our party, were well pleased to hear this news ; and he was offered his liberty on condition that ho gave me mine, and sent me to the English army with my wife and children. 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