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 THE 
 
 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY 
 
 CITY OF CORK. 
 
 BET. C. B. GIBSON, M.E.I.A. 
 
 " The spreading Lee, that like an island fayre, 
 Encloseth Corke with his divided flood." Spenser. 
 
 " The Mayor of the town, with hia brethren, received him in ther skarlet gowns, and 
 ther typetts of velvett, after the English fashion, and made us the beste chere that ever we 
 had in ower lyres." State Paper. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 THOMAS C. NEWBY, 30, WELBECK STREET. 
 1861.
 
 OOBX: 
 
 ZBXKTBD BT OUT BBOTHBBS,
 
 DEDICATED 
 
 EDMUND BTJEKE BOCHE, 
 BAEON FERMOY, M.P. 
 
 LIEUTENANT AND GUSTOS ROTULORUM, 
 
 COUNTY AND CITY OF CORK. 
 
 2060788
 
 TO 
 
 THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD FERMOT. 
 
 MY DEAB LOED, 
 
 I have much pleasure in dedicating this HISTORY 
 OF THE COUNTY AND CITY or COKE to you. It is not all that 
 I could desire, but it is as good as I can make it. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, 
 MY DEAB LOUD, 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 CHARLES B. GIBSON. 
 
 MONKSTOWN, CORK, 
 Feb. 1, 1861.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter. T*g 
 
 L The Mac Carthys and O'Briens, - 1 
 
 IL The Conquest of Cork The Distribution of the Kingdom among 
 
 the Arglo-Norman Knights, - - - 13 
 
 in. The Earls of Desmond Irish Literature and Laws, 44 
 
 IY. Thomas of Drogheda Irish Poets and Poor Scholars, - 74 
 
 V. State of Society Lambert Simnel and Perkin "Warbeck City 
 
 Charters. - - - 84 
 
 YL The Normans The Commoners The Army The Church, - 99 
 
 TIL The Earls of Desmond, Ormond and Kildare, - - 113 
 
 Yin The Old Countess of Desmond The Court Page, - - 124 
 
 IX. Sir John of Desmond The Court Page James Fitz-John, the 
 
 Pretended Earl, - ... 130 
 
 X, The Pretended Earl The Court Page Lord Leonard Gray Sir 
 
 Anthony St. Leger, - . - - 151 
 
 XI. Edward YI. Mary and Philip The Earl of Desmond, - 168 
 
 XII. Garrett styled the Great Earl of Desmond, . . 182 
 
 Eiders Lord President of Munster Lord Deputy- 
 Manners and Customs Dress, - - - 211
 
 Vlll. CONTENTS. 
 
 XIV. The Landing at Smerwick Lord Grey Spenser Kaleigh 
 
 Lord Roche The Death of the Earl of Desmond, - 234 
 
 XV. A Parliament The Undertakers Florence Mac Carthy 
 
 O'Neill and O'Donnell, - - - 269 
 
 XVI. The Poet Spenser, - - . . - 296 
 
 XVII. The Earl of Essex Death of Sir Thomas Norris Warham 
 St. Leger and Hugh Maguire Slain Sir George Carew and 
 James Fitz-Thomas, - - - - 316 
 
 XVIII. Florence Mac Carthy John Annias Sir George Carew, - 337 
 
 XIX. The Spaniards at Kinsale, - '>*-"; - 354 
 
 XX. Don Juan in Cork, - . - - - 375 
 
 XXT The Siege of Dunboy Castle, - - - 384 
 
 XXII. Blarney Castle and Cormac Mac Dermot Mac Carthy, - 403
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE MAC CAETHYS AND O'BRIENS. 
 A.D. 9761170. 
 
 THE province of Munster had been, from an early period, 
 possessed by the Eugenians, or Mac Carthys of Cork, 
 and the Dalcassians, or O'Briens of Limerick. The 
 king of the whole of Munster* for this province had 
 a king paramount was chosen alternately from these 
 two great families. This arrangement was finally 
 interrupted on the accession of Brian Boru to the throne 
 of "Limerick, or Thomond, whose brother, Mahon, had 
 been treacherously and barbarously murdered by 
 Molloy, the ancestor of the O'Mahonys of Cork, and 
 Donovan, or O'Donovan, who lived at Bruree,f now 
 
 * Nunster, from Mumho, a king of Munster, about 800 years before Christ. 
 Munster, in old time, was divided into five Muustcrs, viz : Ormond, Thomond, 
 Desmond, Middle Munster, and West Munster. 
 
 f Who lived at Bruree. The O'Donovans were the original princes of Carbery, 
 on the south-western coast of the county of Cork, of which territory they wore 
 dispossessed by the ancestors of the famous Florence Mac Carthy, of Xilbrittau 
 castle.
 
 2 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 in the county Limerick, then in the kingdom of Cork. 
 The murder is thus recorded in the Dublin copy of 
 the Annals of Innisfallen : 
 
 A.D. 976. " Donovan, son of Cathal, Prince of Cairbre Ardhbha, 
 treacherously seized upon Mahon, son of Kennedy, in his own 
 house, at Brugh-righ, where he was under the protection of Colum, 
 son of Ciaragan, Bishop of Cork, (successor of Barra.) who guaran- 
 teed his safety, to make peace with Maolmhuadh, son of Bran, to 
 whom, and to whose brothers, Teige and Brian Donovan treache- 
 rously delivered ftiahon, who was murdered by them, without 
 respect to the. saint [recte, holy man] who had ensured his safety." 
 
 We have a more circumstantial account of this 
 murder and its consequences, in a curious Irish work, 
 called Cogadh Gaeidheai re Gallaibh, that is, " War of 
 the Gaels [or Irish] with the Danes." We give an 
 abstract from Doctor 0' Donovan's translation : 
 
 Donovan and Molloy, chiefs of Desmond, perceiving 
 the increasing power of the O'Briens, and fearing 
 that if it were not checked, tne crown of Munster 
 would remain in the family for ever, united with Ivor, 
 king of the Danes of Limerick, to destroy Mahon, who 
 was then king of Thomond and Ormond. Ivor 
 suggested that Donovan should invite Mahon to a 
 banquet at his house at Bruree. Although Mahon 
 suspected the loyalty of his host, he accepted the invi- 
 tation, for "his safety had been guaranteed by Columb 
 MacKiergan, successor of St. Barry, bishop of Cork, 
 and other of the clergy of Munster," in other words, 
 by solemn oaths, in 'which the Lames of these pious 
 men were invoked. He therefore attended the feast, 
 where he was seized and delivered into the hands of 
 his ruthless foes, Molloy and Ivor, who were waiting 
 for him in a neighbouring wood, with a body of Irish
 
 MACCAETIITS AND o'ERIENS. 3 
 
 and Danish troops. Molloy ordered his people instantly 
 to despatch him. His order was obeyed. " A bright 
 and sharp sword *' was plunged into his heart, and his 
 blood Plained St. Barry's Gospel,* which he held in 
 his hand, to protect him by its sanctity. Two of the 
 clergy of St. Earry witnessed the transaction from a 
 hillock. It is said that when Mahon received the 
 stroke, he cast the gospel from his hand, with so much 
 force, that it struck the breast of one of the priests of 
 Cork. "What hast thou dene?" demanded the 
 priest, of Molloy. " Cure that man if he come to thee," 
 was the sneering reply. The priest, in his wrath, 
 cursed Molloy bitterly, predicting that his grave would 
 be dug near the side of the hill where they stood, and 
 that the sun would never shine upon it. The story 
 goes that Molloy lost his eye-sight, was slain in a hut, 
 constructed of alder trees, and buried on the north side 
 of a hill, in a spot where the sun never shines. We 
 learn from the Dublin copy of the Annals of Innisfallen, 
 that Molloy was slain by Morough, son of Brian Boru : 
 
 " A.D. 978. Brian, son of ^Kennedy, and his son Moragh, 
 at the head of the Dal-glais, fought the battle of Bealach-leachta, 
 against Maolmuaidh [Molloy] son of Bran, at the head of 
 the Eugenians, with the additional forces of the Danes of 
 Munster. In this battle, Maolmuaidh was slain by the hand of 
 Moragh, son of Brian ; two hundred of the Danes were also slain, 
 together with a great number of the Irish " Some think this battle 
 was fought at Bearna-dhearg, (Red-Chair) on Sliabh-Caoin. An 
 ancient manuscript says at Cnoc-ramhra, south of Mallow, on the 
 road to Cork ; another ancient manuscript, at Magh Cromtha 
 (Macroom), near Muisire-na-inona-moire, or Mushera mountain." 
 
 *"St, Barry's Gospel." There is no such manuscript or book now in 
 existence. Doctors Todd and 0' Donovan, of Trinity College, agree with me in 
 thinking it must have been a copy of the Four Gospels, written by the priests of 
 Saiiit Finn Burr's of Cork.
 
 4 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Brian Born is said to have given expression to his 
 sorrowful revenge for his brother's death, in an elegy, 
 which we have taken the liberty of paraphrasing, with 
 something more than a poet's license. 
 
 My heart -within this breast had burst, 
 
 If vengeance I had longer nursed : 
 
 A king and brother ! deed accursed 1 
 
 Oh ! Mahon, generous and brave, 
 
 I little thought this early grave, 
 
 Would hide thy manly frame ; 
 
 Would thou hadst fallen behind thy shield, 
 
 A victor in some bloody field, 
 
 And poets sang thy fame. 
 
 Mahon, confiding in a knave, 
 
 Saw foeman's face in the clear -wave, 
 
 That gave his own. 
 
 The church her safety pledged in vain ; 
 
 What power divine could bind a Dane, 
 
 With breast of stone. 
 
 The blood that warmed thy tender heart, 
 
 Of Barry's Gospel stained a part 
 
 Ochone! Ochone ! 
 
 Their blood shall flow for this vile deed ; 
 
 I'll crush these vipers and their seed ! 
 
 Now, Ivor, you or I shall bleed. 
 
 There is an old harp in the museum of Trinity 
 College, Dublin, called u Brian Boru's harp." Doctor 
 Petrie says it belongs to a later period ; but I believe 
 there can be no doubt that this Irish monarch, like 
 Richard Coeur de Lion, used the harp, or ceannaircruit, 
 as well as the sword and battle-axe. The tradition of 
 the harp is that it was sent to Eome after the death of 
 Brian, who fell at Clontarf, where it remained more 
 than five centuries, and was then presented by one of 
 the Popes to Henry VIII., by whom it was returned to 
 Ireland, "to be figured on his coins, in compliment to 
 the musical taste of the Irish." The harp, when perfect, 
 had thirty strings.
 
 MACCARTHYS AND O'BRIENS. 5 
 
 Brian Bora, who became king of Thomond, on his 
 brother Mahon's death, directed his first efforts against 
 Donovan's allies, the Danes of Limerick.* and slew 
 Ivor, (who first suggested the murder,) and two of his 
 sons. Upon their death, Donovan sent for Harold, 
 another of Ivor's sons, whom Brian also slew, plundering 
 Limerick, which was in their hands. He then assumed 
 the chief kingship of Mu aster, and left no stone 
 unturned to bring the whole province under his iron 
 heel, and that of his successors. 
 
 The murder of Mahon was fearfully avenged, more 
 than a century after, by the murder of Cormac, the 
 bishop king of Desmond, one of the progenitors of the 
 noble house of Mac Carthy. The Mac Carthy's are tho 
 descendants of Aenghus, the first Christian king of 
 Munster. He flourished in the fifth century. He 
 received the rite of baptism from the hands of the 
 great Irish Apostle, Saint Patrick, on the Eock of 
 Cashel. An interesting circumstance, well calculated 
 to put the faith of the new convert to the test, occurred 
 on that occasion. Saint Patrick's crosier was so placed 
 as to pierce the king's foot to the bone. He supposing 
 it to be part of the ceremony of initiation, bore it like 
 a Christian soldier, without wincing. Aenghus fell in 
 battle at Cell-Osnadha.f There is a story that his 
 
 * Donovan's allies, t/ie Danes of Limerick :" A battle was gained by Brian, son 
 of Ceinneidigh, over the foreigners of Luimneacb, and Donnabhan, son of Cathal, 
 Lord of Ui-Fidbgeinte, wberein tbe foreigners of Luimneach were defeated and 
 slaughtered." lour Masters, AD. 976. 
 
 f Cell-Osnadfta : "This place is now called Kelliston, and is situated in the 
 barony of Forth, in the county of Carlow, and there exists among the old natives 
 of the place, a most curious and remarkably vivid tradition of this battle, which 
 explains the Irish name of the place as denoting ' Church of the groans,' and 
 which it received, according to this tradition, from the lamentations of the 
 Munster women after the loss of their husbands and brothers in the battle." Four 
 Jlaiters, Dr. Of Donovan's edition., A D. 487.
 
 6 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 death, and that of his queen, Eithne,* had been pre- 
 dicted by St. Kieran, in consequence of some horrid 
 crimes imputed to her. An Irish poet thus records 
 his fall : 
 
 Died the branch, the spreading tree of gold, 
 Aenghus the laudable son of Nadfraech, 
 His prosperity was cut off by Illann, 
 In the battle of Cell-Osnadha the foul. 
 
 " This Aenghus," (writes Doctor O'Donovan,) " is 
 the common ancestor of the families of MacCarthy, 
 O'Keeffe, O'Sullivan, and O'Callaghan, now so widely 
 spread in Ireland, England, and America, and even on 
 the continent of Europe, where some of them bear 
 coronets. If the saplings of this 'spreading tree of 
 gold,' Aenghus MacNadfraech, could now be reckoned 
 in the different countries in which they have pullulated, 
 it would appear that they are vastly numerous, and 
 that, as the multiplication of a race is a blessing, king 
 Aenghus has reaped the full benefit of that * alma 
 benedictio ' imparted by St. Patrick, when he baptized 
 him at Cashel, and, by a singular mistake, put his faith 
 to the trial, by piercing his foot with the top of his 
 crosier." There is nothing very remarkable in this 
 pullulation, for the descendants of the blood-royal in 
 England, may now be reckoned by tens of thousands. 
 Vide Sir Bernard Burke on the " Vicissitudes of Noble 
 Families." 
 
 The Mac Carthys, the kings of Desmond, or Cork, 
 derived their name from Carthach. The son of Carthach 
 was the first of the family who was called Mac Carthaigh 
 
 * Eithne : There is a story told of her having being fed by her fosterers, with 
 the flesh of children, in order to fit her for early marriage. Keating's Ireland, 
 preface rri. Tu enim, filia, et Dominus noster Rex, uno die, occidemini ah 
 inimicis vestris : sed det Dominus vobis misericordiam. Acta Sanctorum, p. 460.
 
 MAC CARTHYS AND o'BRIEXS. 7 
 
 or Mac Carthy. Cormac, son of Muireadhach,* and 
 grandson of Mac Carthy, was the bishop-king of 
 Desmond, perhaps the most distinguished member of 
 this noble family. Doctors O'Brien and Lanigan, think 
 he was merely honored with the title of bishop for his 
 piety and liberality to the church, but they were 
 mistaken, for we find his death thus recorded in the 
 Annals of Kilronan, which were compiled in the 
 fifteenth century : 
 
 A.D. 1138. "Cormac, grandson of Carthach, chief king of 
 Desmond, and bishop-king of Ireland, in his time, for piety and the 
 bestowal of jewels and wealth to the clergy and their churches, and 
 for ecclesiastical wealth to God, in books and implements, fell 
 treacherously by Thomond, and a blessing on his soul." 
 
 It is also recorded in the Four Masters, thus : 
 
 A.D. 1138. "Cormac, son of Muireadhach, son of Carthach, 
 lord of Desmond, and bishop-king of Ireland, in his time, for his 
 bestowal of jewels and wealth to the clergy and to the churches, 
 the impi over of territories and churches, was treacherously slain in 
 his own house, by Toirdhealbhach, the son of Diarmaid O'Brien, 
 and by the two sons of O'Connor Kerry." 
 
 The antiquarian may see, at the present day, the 
 stone-roofed church on the rock of Cashel, called 
 Cormac's Chapel, which Doctor Petrie styles " one of 
 the most curious and perfect churches, in the Norman 
 style, in the British Empire." Here we are pointed 
 to king Cormac's tomb, in which was discovered a 
 crosier of " exceedingly beautiful workmanship." It 
 
 * Corma-c, son of Muireadhach. Some are in the habit of confounding Cormac 
 the bishop-king of Desmond, with Cormac, son of Cuileannan, king of Cashel, 
 who was " a king, a bishop, an anchorite, and a tcribe, profoundly learned in the 
 Scotia tongue." This Cormac was slain in 927, at the battle at Bealach-Mughna, 
 or rather was beheaded after the battle. The site of this battle is still pointed 
 out, and the stone on which the king's head was cut off by a common krurn 
 This Cormac was the author of an ancient Irish Glossarj . called Sanason Chonn.iir, 
 and is also said to have compiled the Psalter of Cashel.
 
 8 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 is now in the possession of Doctor Petrie, from whom 
 we have the following description : 
 
 " The head is formed of copper, and measures twelve inches in 
 length, and five in the diameter of the crook or circular. The crook, 
 or upper portion of the crosier, represents a serpent terminated by a 
 double-faced head. Its surface is covered with a sunk lozenge 
 carving, filled with a vitreous enamel of a blue colour, and the 
 intervening elevations of which are gilt a design obviously intended 
 to represent the scales of the reptile. Within the curve is a human 
 figure, standing with one leg placed on the neck of the serpent, and 
 the other on the back of a double-faced wingless dragon, which he 
 has pierced in the back with a spear, which the dragon bites. This 
 human figure is dressed in a simple tunic, tied round the waist, and 
 the feet are covered with buskins, which extend above the ankles. 
 This figure had wings fastened to the shoulders, and to the central 
 bar, which connects the figure with the circle, but these wings have 
 been detached and lost. Both the figures were gilt, and their eyes, 
 as well as those of the serpent, are formed of small gems, and the 
 sides of the dragon are ornamented with a line of turquoises, placed 
 at equal intervals from each other. The bowl, or middle portion, 
 which is hollow, is encircled by a central belt, ornamented with 
 nine turquoises and nine sapphires, placed alternately, and at equal 
 distances from each other, the intervening spaces being filled with 
 sculptured beads, Above and below this belt there are figures of 
 four dragons, gilt, and with eyes formed of gems. The tail of each 
 of these animals is brought round the head of the other, so as to 
 form a very symmetrical ornament, and the surrounding ground is 
 filled with a blue enamel. Immediately above the bowl, and 
 encircling the upper portion of the staff, is an ornament resembling 
 the Irish crown, consisting of eight radii, ornamented above the 
 fillet with the same number of gems. The lower portion of the 
 head, or cylindrical socket, is ornamented with a very graceful 
 pattern, composed of leaves, or flowers, in three vertical ranges. 
 The ground in these ornaments is also of a blue enamel, but the 
 stems are gilt, and the flowers are filled with an enamel of white 
 and red, now a good deal decayed. These ranges are separated 
 from each other by three figures of a fish, the well known mystical 
 symbol of the early Christians, and these figures are each ornamented
 
 MACCAETHTS AND o'BRIEXS. 9 
 
 with a range of seven gems torquoises and sapphires alternately 
 placed at equal distances along the back." 
 
 We agree with Doctor Petrie, that this crosier is of 
 the highest interest, as a specimen of the jewellery art 
 in Ireland, before the arrival of the English. 
 
 The bishop-king was succeeded by his son Diarmaid. 
 It was not till the year 1151, that an opportunity was 
 afforded Diarmaid Mac Carthy of throwing off the yoke 
 of the man who had murdered his pious father. 
 Thorlough 0' Conor, king of Connaught, led an army 
 into Munster, and established Diarmaid in the sove- 
 xeignty of Desmond. But 0' Conor had not long 
 withdrawn his forces, before O'Brien set out upon 
 another of his predatory excursions. On his return 
 he met 0' Conor, king of Connaught, and Diarmaid 
 Mac Murrough, king of Leinster, who, with their 
 united forces, gave battle to this redoubtable descendant 
 of Brian Boru. The Dalcassian, or O'Brien troops, 
 were defeated with tremendous slaughter. Seven 
 thousand of their carcases were left to blacken in the 
 waters of Moin-mor,* or great bog. Among the slain 
 was Muircheartach, son of Conor O'Brien, f lord of 
 Thomond, and royal heir of Munster, " the second 
 best man among the Dalcassians." There escaped but 
 one shattered battalion out of three which came to the 
 ground in all the pride and panoply of war. Turlough 
 O'Brien was banished, and the supremacy of Munster 
 assumed by the conqueror, Thorlough 0' Conor, king 
 
 Moin-mor, i.e. the " Large Bog." There are many places of this name in 
 Munster, hut the place where this terrible battle was fought, would seem to be 
 Moanmore, in the parish of Emly, barony of Clanwilliam, and county of Tipperary. 
 0' 'Donovan's Edition Four Masters, vol. i. p. 1098, 
 
 t Son of Conor (?rein.I conclude that Conor O'Brien, lord of Thomond, 
 was the king's brother, and that the young man who fell was the king's nephew.
 
 JO HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 of Connaught. And thus was Diarmaid and his father, 
 Cormac, revenged by the hand of a stranger. 
 
 The condition of Thorlough O'Brien, after the battle, 
 appears to have been truly miserable and contemptible, 
 that of an outcast and a wanderer. Take the following 
 entry : "Thorlough O'Brien went to Limerick, but 
 he did not get shelter in Munster, and he took many 
 jewels with him, i.e. ten score ouuces of gold and sixty 
 beautiful jewels, beside the drinking-horn of Brian 
 Borumha, and he divided them among the chiefs of 
 Sil-Muireadhaigh, (the O'Conors of Connaught,) Ui- 
 Briuin, (the O'Eourkes of Brefney,) and Commhaicne, 
 (the O'Farrells,) but his presents to the Connaught 
 chieftains were of no avail ; two years after this (1153,) 
 he was banished to the north of Ireland, and Munster 
 was divided between Fadhg O'Brien and Diarmaid 
 Mac Carthy. 
 
 Fadhg O'Brien's reign was of short duration; he was 
 taken prisoner the next year by Finn O'Brien, blinded, 
 and thus rendered, according to the Brehon law, in- 
 capable of reigning. 
 
 O'Neill of Ulster then rose, and united his forces 
 with those of Leinster, to place Conor O'Brien on the 
 throne of Thomond. The old king appeals to Eoderick 
 O'Conor, king of Connaught, who has just succeeded 
 his father ; Eoderick responds to the appeal, enters 
 Munster at the head of a large army, and not only 
 replaces Thorlough on the throne of Thomond, but 
 compels Diarmaid Mac Carthy to give him (Eoderick 
 O'Conor,) hostages of subjection as supreme monarch, 
 although Mac Carthy had but a few months before 
 given the same pledges of allegiance to O'Loughlin
 
 MACC1RTHTS AXD O'BRIENS. 11 
 
 O'Neill, king of Ulster. What could Diarmaid, or any 
 one similarly circumstanced do, when placed between 
 two such consuming fires. He gave tokens of allegiance 
 to both. 
 
 Turlough O'Brien, the hoary king of Limerick or 
 Thomond, who has managed once more to clamber to 
 his old throne, now seeks his revenge, and in order to 
 incapacitate Conor O'Brien from ever again assuming 
 the government, or his son from succeeding him, he 
 has them both seized and blinded. 
 
 Four years after his restoration (1162,) we find him 
 "at war, and winning. In the first battle, the grandson 
 of Carthach, and other men of distinction were slain. 
 In a second battle, he was also victorious, slaying 
 Na-Caeimh, lord of Feara-muighe, (Hugh O'Keeffe, 
 lord of Fermoy,) and two other chieftains. These two 
 battles were only the commencement of a more general 
 war between Thomond and Desmond, during which 
 there was fearful slaughter and devastation on both 
 sides. 
 
 The old man was soon after this deposed by his own 
 son, and driven into Leinster. He made no further 
 effort to regain his throne. It is probable that the 
 unnatural conduct of his son shortened his life. We 
 have the following entry in the annals under A.D. 
 1167: "Thorlough, son of Diarmaid O'Brien, king 
 of Munster and Leath-Mhoga, a man who had aimed 
 at the sovereignty of all Ireland, the best man that 
 came in his time for bestowing jewels and wealth upon 
 the poor and the indigent of God, died." 
 
 His son Murtagh, by whom he was dethroned, did 
 not long survive him. He was murdered two years
 
 12 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 after, by the grandson of Conor O'Brien, and Morough 
 McCarthy, the son of Diarmaid, king of Desmond. 
 This murder brought Roderick O'Conor to Munster, 
 which he again divided between Diarmaid Mac Carthy, 
 and Donnell, the brother of the late king of Thomond, 
 compelling the Mac Carthys to pay an eric (or fine) of 
 three times twelve score cows, (720 cows) " for the 
 killing of Murtagh O'Brien.'' 
 
 Diarmaid Mac Carthy, was king of Desmond, or 
 Cork, and Donnell O'Brien, king of Thomond, or 
 Limerick, when Eobert Fitzstephen, and Eichard, son 
 of Gilbert, (Earl Strongbow,) came to Ireland, with a 
 numerous force of knights and archers, in the pay of 
 Diarmaid Mac Murrough, " to contest Leinster for him, 
 and to disturb the Irish of Ireland in general."
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE CONQUEST OF CORK THE DISTBIBUTION OF THE KINGDOM 
 AMONG THE ANGLO-NOKMAN KNIGHTS. 
 
 A.D. 11701295. 
 
 THE Norman Conquest of Ireland, under Henry II., did 
 not take place till a hundred years after the conquest 
 "of England, by William I. Whether it was that our 
 iniquities were not then full England is a century 
 before us in everything or that we were unworthy of 
 a Norman king till 1170, will depend altogether on 
 the view taken of the conquest. 
 
 Camden, in his Itinerary, describes the English 
 Conqueror William I. as standing on the high cliffs of 
 Wales, which command the Wicklow mountains in 
 Ireland, and saying, with something of the profane 
 boasting of Artaxerxes, " I will have the ships of my 
 kingdom brought hither, wherewith I will make a 
 bridge to invade this land." 
 
 When Murchardt, king of Leinster, heard this boast, 
 he asked, "Hath the king, in his great threatening, 
 inserted the words, if it please God?" "No," was the 
 reply. "Then," said Murchardt, " seeing this king 
 putteth his trust only in man, and not in God, I fear 
 not his coming." When this was told to William, he 
 frowned, and bit his thumb. 
 
 Those who believe in an over-ruling Providence 
 that the God, who made the world, continues to govern
 
 14 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 it may acknowledge a needs-be for the migration of 
 those conquering hordes, who rushed, like destroying 
 floods, from the North and East, to the West and 
 South of Europe; that their course was directed by 
 Him, who "hath determined the times before appointed, 
 and the bounds of their habitation." 
 
 William of Malmsbury seems to view the English 
 conquest as the work of a mightier arm than that of 
 the Conqueror ; to esteem it "an extraordinary work 
 cf Providence, that the English should have given up 
 all for lost, after the battle of Hastings, where only a 
 small, though brave army, had perished." " It was 
 indeed," spys the wise and judicious Hallam, "an 
 event not easily paralleled, where the vanquished were 
 little, if at all, less courageous than their enemies ; and 
 where no domestic factions exposed the country to an 
 invader." 
 
 Henry of Huntington speaks even more emphati- 
 cally : " In the year of Grace, 1060, the Divine Kuler 
 accomplished what he had before purposed, respecting 
 the English nation. He gave them up to the Normans 3 
 a cruel and wise people, to be exterminated."* 
 
 This is strong language act exterminandum but 
 it would not seem to be too strong for the occasion : 
 "God sees the wretched people," says the Saxon 
 Chronicler, " most unjustly oppressed ; first, they are 
 despoiled of their possessions, and then butchered. 
 Whoever had any property lost it by heavy taxes and 
 unjust decrees. "It is not easy to relate," says 
 another writer, " the miseries sustained, at this time, 
 
 * " Millesimo et sexagesimo sexto anno gratiae, perfecit dominator Deus de 
 gente Anglorum quod diu cogitaverat. Genti uamque -Normaiioiurn asperte 
 et callidtu tradidit eos ad exterminandum."
 
 CONQUEST OF COKE. 15 
 
 by England, from royal exactions."* "The nobles 
 and bishops built castles, and filled them with devilish 
 and nicked men, and oppressed the people cruelly, 
 torturing men for their money. They imposed taxes 
 on towns, and when they had exhausted them of every- 
 thing, set them on fire. You might travel a day, and 
 not find one man living in a town, nor any land in 
 cultivation. Never did the country suffer greater evils. 
 If two or three men [Normans] were seen riding up to 
 a town, all its inhabitants left it, taking them for 
 plunderers. And this lasted, growing worse and worse, 
 ^throughout Stephen's reign. Men said openly that 
 Christ and his saints were asleep." [See Chro. Saxon 
 p. 239.] 
 
 " A more general proof of the ruinous oppression of 
 William the Conqueror may be deduced," says Mr. 
 Hallam, "from the comparative condition of the English 
 towns in the reign of Edward the Confessor, and at 
 the compilation of Doomsday. At the former epoch 
 there were, in York, 1607 inhabited houses, at the 
 latter 967 ; at the former there were in Oxford 721, at 
 the latter 243 ; of 172 houses in Dorchester, 100 were 
 destroyed; of 243 in Derby, 103; of 487 in Chester, 
 205. Some other towns had suffered less, but scarcely 
 any one fails to exhibit marks of a decayed population." 
 But the same eminent writer, who records these 
 devastating examples of the Norman sway, confesses 
 that "good as well as evil resulted from the conquest, 
 even in the time of the Conqueror, who was more 
 despotic and ruthless than any of his descendants." 
 
 * " Non facile protest narrari miseria quatn sustinit illo tcnipore ton a An- 
 glorum projjter regius exactioiios." C'hro. &ixw t p. 228.
 
 16 HISTOEY OF CORK. 
 
 " The first and more immediate advantage, was that 
 of deterring a wild and unruly people from the evil of 
 anarchy and rebellion, to which they were addicted, 
 and all their risings were without concert and desperate. 
 The tyranny of William displayed less of passion or 
 insolence than of that indifference about human suf- 
 fering, which distinguishes a cold and far-sighted 
 statesman. Impressed by the frequent rising of the 
 English at the commencement of his reign, and by the 
 recollection, as one historian observes, that the mild 
 government of Canute had only ended in the expulsion 
 of the Danish line, he formed the scheme of rivetting 
 such fetters upon the conquered nation, that all resist- 
 ance should become impracticable." 
 
 But the weight and severity of the Norman yoke 
 was greatly relieved after the death of the Conqueror. 
 Henry II., during whose reign Ireland was conquered, 
 and annexed to the English crown, is called by Mr. 
 Hallam, " the best of these monarchs."* 
 
 And the reign of his son John, who was perhaps the 
 worst, was distinguished by the granting of the Magna 
 Charta. It is worthy of remark, that the same noble 
 knights, who conquered Ireland, wrested the sword of 
 oppression from the hands of this cowardly prince, and 
 taught him to respect the liberties of the people. If 
 the unsettled state of England in 1064, demanded the 
 strong and stern rule of a conqueror, like William of 
 Normandy, the necessity was even greater in Ireland 
 in 1170, after a lapse of a century. 
 
 Since the death of Malachy II." observes O'Conor, 
 
 * We say nothing here of the private character of Henry II., which Lingar 
 and Macgeoghegan paint in the darkest colours.
 
 CONQUEST OF CORK. 17 
 
 " this nation was falling into a state of political repro- 
 bation; each province set up for itself, the monarchy 
 grew indifferent, and the monarch hateful to the ma- 
 jority of the chieftains. When Roderick mounted the 
 throne, their measure of iniquity was full" 
 
 The first fleet of foreigners that came to Ireland with 
 Diarniaid, king of Leinster, in 1169, are called 
 1 i Flemings" by the Four Masters. With these Flemings 
 were seventy heroes, in coats of mail. The men of 
 Munster "set nothing by the Fleming," thought them 
 unworthy of their steel. But those that followed 
 Strongbow, Fitzstephen, Eaymond Le Gros, and Milo 
 de Cogan, were men of weightier metal. They took 
 Wexford, and entered Waterford at the point of the 
 sword, slaying about seven thousand of the Danish and 
 Celtic inhabitants, and making prisoners of Gillemaire, 
 the officer of the fortress, and O'Faclain, lord of Deisi, 
 and his son. 
 
 Diarmaid Mac Carthy, king of Desmond, or Cork, 
 acted a curious and dubious part during the progress 
 of the Norman Invasion. His conduct appears brave, 
 noble, and patriotic, at first ; vacillating and suicidal 
 in the end. The Annals of Ireland, for the year 1170, 
 contain this entry: "A victory was gained by the 
 son of Cormac, (grandson of Carthach,) and the people 
 of Desmond, over the knights who were left to protect 
 Port Lairge," or Waterford. But the victory was not 
 followed up by either Mac Carthy or 0' Conor. The 
 latter confined his revenge to the murder of one of the 
 sons of the king of Leinster, whom he held as a hostage 
 for his father's good conduct. Donnell O'Brien, king 
 of Thomond, and his Dalcassians, in order, it would 
 
 3
 
 18 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 seem, still further to weaken the hands of the Irish 
 party, turned against Eoderick, and as if this were not 
 enough, Diarmaid Mac Carthy attacked the Danes of 
 Limerick, and burned their fortress and market-house. 
 This onslaught upon the Danes was bad policy. The 
 English met a more manly opposition from the Danes 
 than from the native Irish. We find the Danes of 
 Cork, in 1174, equipping thirty-five vessels to attack 
 an English fleet. It is true, they lost the battle, through 
 the valor of an Englishman named Philip Walsh, who 
 leaped on board the Admiral's ship, sword in hand, 
 and killed Gilbert, who commanded the Danes, but the 
 Danes fought bravely. 
 
 But the Irish hated the Danes (who had taken posses- 
 sion of all their best ports) with a most sincere hatred. 
 They were old enemies. " A.D. 820. The city of 
 Cork, and the adjacent country, were ransacked by a 
 Danish fleet. A.D. 833. The city was devastated 
 by the Danes. A.D. 837. This county was 
 miserably harrassed by the Danes. Among other 
 devastations, Inis Dambly, [Cape Clear] and Cork 
 were plundered and burned " 
 
 "A.D. 913. Cork was this year burned and 
 plundered by the Danes, who, in the year 915, also 
 laid waste the greatest part of Munster. The following 
 year they were defeated by the Munster men, in a 
 pitched battle ; but in Leinster, the Danes, on their 
 side, vanquished the Irish. A.D. 918. The Danes 
 of Munster, being then in peaceable possession of this 
 province, joined a party of their countrymen from 
 Scandinavia, and sailed to Albania, [Scotland,] where 
 they committed great ravages. A.D. 960. The
 
 THE DANES IN CORK. 19 
 
 Danes being at war with the Irish, burned and plun- 
 dered Cork, which was also wasted by them in the 
 years 978 and 995. A.D. 1012. The Danes wasted 
 the country in this year also, and in the following 
 year, a large Danish fleet sailed into the harbour, and 
 burned the city. Its inhabitants, however, avenged the 
 outrage. A.D. 1089. The Danes of Dublin, Water- 
 ford, and Wicklow, united their forces to attack Cork, 
 but they were overthrown in battle by the Irish of 
 Oneachach, a part of South Carbery." 
 
 In 1172, two years after the arrival of Strongbow, 
 we-find Cork, which was then styled " the Great 
 City of Minister," and the adjacent country, (t quietly 
 possessed ly the Danes or Ostmen." 
 
 We cannot, under these circumstances, accuse Mac 
 Carthy of handing over, or delivering up the city, to 
 the Normans. All we can say is that he allowed them 
 to take what was in the possession of another. It 
 would seem, from his subsequent attempts to seize the 
 city, that he intended to use the Normans as a cat's-paw; 
 but this was giving his walnut to the bear. 
 
 The Danes were not only in possession of the city, 
 but of the " adjacent country." We find from Henry's 
 grant to Fitzstephen and De Cogan, (which we shall 
 quote by-and-bye,) that the Danes possessed the city, 
 and a cantred of the adjoining territory. We learn 
 from Cowel, that a cantred* is a hundred manors, or 
 villages, but we must know the size of the manor or 
 village, in order to decide on the extent of the cantred. 
 There is another mode of doing it. Let us turn to 
 
 * Cantred, " the same in Wales a? a hundred in England, for cantre in the 
 British language, signifieth an hundred." Cowel.
 
 20 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 the Charter of Henry II., which is worthy the perusal 
 of those who wish to define the boundaries of the 
 ancient kingdom of Cork. 
 
 " HENBY, BY THE GBACE OF GOD, KING OF ENGLAND, 
 AND DtJKE OF NOBMANDY AND AQUATAIN, EAEL OF 
 ANJOU, 
 
 "To all Archbishops, Abbots* Earls, Barons, Justices, 
 and all Ministers, and Faithful Subjects, French, 
 English, and Irish, f greeting. 
 
 " Know ye, that I have granted, and by this my charter, con- 
 firmed to Robert Fitzstephen and Milo De Cogan, the government 
 of the city of Cork, with the cantred which belonged to the Ostmen 
 of the said city, which I retain in my own hands to have and to 
 hold them together, during my pleasure, and as long as they shall 
 serve me faithfully. I, moreover, by this my charter, give, grant, 
 and confirm to them and their heirs, all the Kingdom of Cork, 
 except the said city, and the before-mentioned cantred, which I 
 retain in my own hands ; to hold to them and their heirs, 
 of me and of my son John, and our heirs, by an exact division, 
 towards the Cape of Saint Brandon, on the sea-coast, and towards 
 Limerick and other parts, and as far as the Water near Lismore, 
 which runs between Lismore and Cork, and falls into the sea ; by the 
 service of sixty knights, to be performed thereout, to me and my 
 son John, and our heirs; the service of thirty knights to be per- 
 formed by the said Robert, and his heirs, and the service of thirty 
 knights, by the said Milo, and his heirs. Wherefore, I will, and strictly 
 command, that the said Robert and Milo, shall have and hold the 
 government of the said city and cantred, in manner as it is before 
 mentioned, and that they and their heirs, shall have and hold all 
 the kingdom aforesaid, except the said city and cantred, (which I 
 
 * Abbots here rank after Archbishops, and before Earls. Coke says there used 
 to be twenty-six Abbots in England, (Fuller says " twenty-seven,") and two 
 Priors, who were Lords of Parliament, and sat in the House of Peers." William 
 de Kose, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, in 1355, was Prior of the Hospital of St. 
 John of Jerusalem. 
 
 t French, English, and Irish. Henry here gives the precedence to his French 
 subjects. He had large possessions in France, in right of his wife Eleanor, as 
 well as of his grandfather, William the Conqueror.
 
 CHARTER OF HENRY II. 21 
 
 retain in my own hands,) from me and my son John, and our heirs, 
 by an exact division, as above described, well and peaceably, freely 
 and quietly, entirely, fully, and honourably, in wood and in plain, 
 in meadows and pastures, in waters and mills, in warrens, ponds, 
 and fishings, in ways and paths, and in all other places and things 
 belonging thereto, with all their liberties and free customs, so that 
 from the aforesaid river that runs between Lismore and Cork, the 
 whole land, as far as Waterford, together with the city of Lismore, 
 shall remain in my hands, for the government of Waterford, 
 
 " Witnesses present : John, Bishop of Norwich; Adam, Bishop 
 of St. Asaph, and Augustine, Bishop of Waterford; Richard De 
 Lucy, William Fitz-Adelm, my Sewer, Hugh de Lacy, Hugh de 
 Burid, Roger Fitz-Remsey, Maurice de Prendergast, Robert Dene, 
 Robert Fitz-Eliodore, Jeoffrey Poer, and Harvy de Monte Marisco. 
 At Oxford." 
 
 The "Water near Lismore,"* can be none other than 
 the Blackwater, which discharges itself into the sea at 
 Youghal. This river, which now runs through a part 
 of the present county of Waterford, then formed a 
 portion of the north-eastern boundary of the kingdom 
 of Cork. The line stretched thence into the county 
 Limerick, running north of Kilmallock and Bruree, 
 and then took a south-westerly course along the Shannon, 
 to Brandon Head, in Kerry, sweeping thence round the 
 coasts of Kerry and Cork, and terminating where it 
 began, at the town of Youghal. This, at a rough 
 estimate, gives an area of over three million two hundred 
 thousand acres. We shall say three million two 
 hundred thousand. Now, as this three million two 
 hundred thousand, was divided by the charter into 
 thirty-two cantreds, each cantred must have contained a 
 hundred thousand acres ; and as there were one hundred 
 
 * The Water near Lisinore is said to run "between Lismore and Cork." 
 By Cork, we must understand the kingdom, and not the city of Cork. The 
 Biackwater falls into the sea at Youghal, on the borders of the ancient kingdom, 
 and present county of Cork.
 
 22 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 manors, or villages, in each cantred, we conclude, that 
 each manor, or village, contained one thousand acres. 
 This would be about the size of our largest baronies, 
 as Fermoy, or Imokilly. 
 
 In the charter granted by John, while viceroy, " all 
 the fields held of my city of Cork," as well as the 
 ground on which the city stood, is granted to the 
 citizens. By the charter of the 16th Edward IV., the 
 franchise of the city extended " as far as the shore- 
 point, or strand, called Eewrawne, on the western part 
 of the said port, and as far as to the shore-point, or 
 strand, called Benowdran, on the eastern part of the 
 same port, and so far as the castle of Carrigrohan, on 
 the western side of the said city, and in all towns, pills, 
 creeks, burgs, and strands, in and to which the sea 
 ebbs and flows, in length and breadth, within the afore- 
 said two points, called Eewrawne, and Benowdran." 
 
 We have neither of these " aforesaid two points" 
 marked on any ancient or modern map of Cork, which 
 we have met with, but conclude it is between those 
 two points, outside the harbour's mouth, where the 
 Mayor of Cork throws the dart. 
 
 AVe have no doubt that it was in this threatening 
 and warlike way, those corsair Danes, of our city, 
 marked out the sea-line of their cantred. We copy 
 the following account of this time-honored ceremony, 
 from one of our local papers. It reminds us of the mar- 
 riage of the Adriatic, which was celebrated by the Doge, 
 or chief magistrate of Yenice, who cast a ring from 
 his vessel, or gondola, into the waters. 
 
 "THROWING THE DART. The ancient and important civic 
 ceremony of Throicing the Dart, took place yesterday. It is per-
 
 ROYAL GRANTS. 23 
 
 formed every three years, and is in accordance with a clause in the 
 city charter, which provides, that for the purpose of showing their 
 jurisdiction over the port and harbour, the Mayor, accompanied by 
 the officers of the Corporation of Cork, and such members of that 
 body as may choose, shall go out to the mouth of the harbour, and, 
 at a point as near to a straight line drawn from Poor Head to Cork 
 Head, as can be determined on with the eye, shall throw a dart 
 into the water. Having reached the necessary point at the 
 Harbour's mouth, the Mayor put on his official robes, and the 
 collar of S.S., took the arrow, which was about a yard and a-half 
 in length, with a heavy iron barded head, and proceeding to the 
 bow of the vessel, accompanied by the entire of the party, threw it 
 into the water amid a loud cheer." 
 
 can reckon, in the present day, at least twelve 
 towns and villages, great and small, (not to speak of 
 pills,* creeks, burghs, and strands,) to which the sea ebbs 
 and flows, and over which the charter of Edward IV. 
 gave our magistrates jurisdiction: Whitegate, Aghada, 
 Cove, Glanmirc, Cork, Douglas, Blackrock, Passage, 
 Monkstown, Rinnaskiddy, Carrigaline, and Crosshaven. 
 There is very little doubt, that these small towns, as 
 well as the larger city, were included in the cantied, 
 or territory, possessed by the Danes. 
 
 Henry's grant of "all the kingdom of Cork" except 
 the city and the before-mentioned cantred, to Fitz- 
 stephen and De Cogan, does not seem to have inter- 
 fered with Mac Carthy's grant of a part of the kingdom 
 to Raymond Le Gros. The circumstance is worthy of 
 record. Cormac, eldest son of Dermot, king of Cork, 
 rose in rebellion against his father, seized, imprisoned, 
 and attempted to dethrone him. The old man, in his 
 emergency, sought the aid of Eaymond Le Gros, who 
 
 * Pills, i.e. castles or strongholds. It is likely thut the verbs to pillage aud 
 pilfer, are derived from pill, a caslle.
 
 24 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 was then besieging Limerick. Raymond did not hesi- 
 tate a moment, but marched, with a strong force, 
 against Cormac, whom he arrested, and delivered into 
 the hands of his infuriated parent, who had him 
 beheaded. The Annals of Ireland say he was "trea- 
 cherously slain by his own people." The father ex- 
 pressed his gratitude to the Norman knight, by 
 bestowing on him a princely inheritance in Kerry, 
 which then formed part of the kingdom of Cork, 
 Raymond made over the inheritance on his eldest son, 
 Maurice, the descen dents of whom became powerful 
 chieftains, under the name of Fitzmaurice, and barons 
 of Lixnaw.* 
 
 It was two years after the signing of the charter, 
 before Fitzstephen and De Cogan took possession of 
 seven of the thirty -two cantreds, into which the king- 
 dom of Cork was divided. The arrangement is thus 
 recorded by Giraldus Cambrensis : 
 
 " Therefore, Dermoth of Desmond being brought to terms, and 
 other powerful men of those parts, Fitzstephen and Milo divided 
 seven cantreds between them, which were contiguous to the city, 
 and which they then possessed in great security, three of which, 
 eastward, fell to Fitzstephen' s lot, and four westward to Milo's. 
 The one had the fewer in his division, because they \\ ere the best, 
 and the other had the larger number, because they were of worse 
 quality. The government of the city remained in common to them 
 both, and the tribute of the other twenty-four cantreds, which 
 remained undivided, was to be equally distributed between them, 
 when they should be brought under subjection." 
 
 Cambrensis has left us a very imperfect account of 
 the distribution of property made by Fitzstephen and 
 De Cogan. But the confirmation charters of king John, 
 
 * Barons of Lixnaw. Edmond Fitzmaurice, was created Baron of Odornej, 
 and Viscount Kilmoule, in 1537-
 
 DEATH OF MILO DE COGAN. 25 
 
 granted in the 8th year of his reign, throw some light 
 on the affair. He confirmed to William de Barry, the 
 donation made by Eobert Fitzstephen to Philip de 
 Barry, his sister's son, namely the land of Olethain, with 
 all its appurtenances, and the cantreds of Muscherie- 
 Dunegan, and the cantred of Killede, by the service of 
 ten knights. 
 
 Philip dc Broase, to whom king John had granted the 
 kingdom of Limerick, came to Cork in 1179, and 
 was kindly received by Eichard de Londres, an 
 English gentleman, who was deputy there under Fitz- 
 aldoline. Here ho met De Cogan and Fitzstephen. 
 The next year, 1180, we read of the death of Meredith, 
 or Amere, Fitzstephen's eldest son, "a lusty young 
 gentleman, and a towardlie." His death wns cause of 
 great grief to his father and friends. 
 
 Two years after this, 1182, we find Mac Carthy 
 renouncing his allegiance to the English government, 
 and marching upon Cork, which fills Fitzstephen with 
 consternation and despair. Eaymond Le Gros, who is 
 in Waterford. marches to his relief, and obliges Mac 
 Carthy to raise the seige. 
 
 Milo de Cogan and young Fitzstephen were slain in 
 1185, at Lismore, to which they were invited, bygone 
 Mac Tirid, "who stealing suddenly and unawares upon 
 them, treacherously murdered them, and five of their 
 servants. This left Fitzstephen without a son. Whether 
 or not these murders had been previously arranged by 
 Mac Carthy, we cannot say, but he at once took advan- 
 tage of them to attack Fitzstephen, who was shut up 
 in Cork. The Norman knight once more applied to 
 his trusty friend, Eaymond, who was at Wexford. He
 
 26 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 set sail with a hundred archers and twenty knights. 
 With this reinforcement, Fitzstephen made a sally, and 
 routed the Irish at the first onset. But this was one 
 of his last acts. " Broken with age and misfortune, he 
 first lost his senses, and not long afterwards his life." 
 This was the end of a man whose inheritance, by royal 
 charter, was a million and a-half acres, Mac Carthy 
 made a last attempt, in 1185, on the " Beautiful citie," 
 and was encountered by Theobald Fitz-Walter, the 
 founder of the house of Ormond, He came upon the 
 old Irish prince, while engaged in conference with his 
 men, and slew him and his whole party. Thus died 
 one of the greatest and bravest of the kings of Cork. 
 "There happened," says Friar Clin, " a great eclipse 
 of the sun this year, which continued for some time, of 
 a bkody colour.^ 
 
 Diarmaid Mac Carthy was succeeded by his son 
 Donnell, who slew his own brother, Cathal Odhor. 
 He then turned his sword against Donnell More 
 O'Brien, who had aided the English in the erection of 
 castles, "for the purpose of distressing the Mac Carthy." 
 This Donnell O'Brien is styled in the Dublin copy of 
 the Annals of Innisfallen, " a beaming lamp in peace 
 and war, and a brilliant star of the hospitality and 
 valor of the Momonians." He was succeeded by Mur- 
 tough, who commenced his reign by uniting his forces 
 with those of 0' Conor of Connaught, in aiding Mac 
 Carthy to drive the English out of Cork, without per- 
 mitting them to fire the city, which they attempted, 
 Mac Carthy at this time destroyed the castle of Kil- 
 feakle, and slew many of the English, taking two of 
 their chiefs prisoners. He also plundered the territory
 
 NORMAN CASTLES. 27 
 
 of Imokilly, destroying a castle, with many of the 
 cneiny. Four years after this, the old feud between 
 these two families broke out again, like a smouldering 
 fire, with renewed fury ; but was suppressed by the 
 Pope's legate, Mahon O'Heney, Archbishop of Cashel. 
 After making peace with O'Brien, Mac Carthy buckled 
 on his armour to attack the English, and gained a 
 victory over them, slaying a hundred and sixty, or 
 more. We are not informed when this battle was 
 fought. 
 
 Every attentive reader of Irish Annals will observe 
 the recurrence of internal feuds much less frequent, 
 after the end of the twelfth century. Irish chieftains 
 at length began to see the policy of uniting against the 
 common foe, and the impolicy of burning, blinding, and 
 slaying each other ; but this wisdom came too late, for 
 the Normans were not only in possession, but in secu- 
 rity within the walls of their strong castles. A 
 Norman knight, on his war-horse, with lance in rest, 
 in all the panoply of coat-of-mail, helmet, greaves and 
 gauntlet, was a formidable opponent in the field, and 
 difficult to bring down. But Norman knights could 
 not always keep the field or saddle, armed cap-a-pie. 
 Without their armour, they were as vulnerable as the 
 crab without his shell, and therefore adopted the crab's 
 policy, and sought the protection of some rock or 
 stronghold. These strongholds, or castles, were essen- 
 tial to their existence, when they came to spread 
 themselves over the broad lands of which they had 
 received royal grants. The number of such castles, 
 built through the length and breadth of the country 
 during the thirteenth century, is very great.
 
 28 HISTORY OF CORK:. 
 
 In the kingdom of Cork alone, we have the castle 
 of Muinter Bhaire, in Kilcrohane, erected by Mac 
 Cuddihy. The castles of Dun-na-mbare, or Dunnamarc, 
 and Aird Tuilighthe, the castle of Dunloe, the castle 
 of Kilforgla, or Killorglin, the castle of the Mang, or 
 Castlemaine, (in Kerry,) the castles of Moylahiff, 
 of Callanafersy, of Cloonmealane, and of Curreens, now 
 Currans, by Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald. The castle of Air- 
 lioch, by Eoche. The castles of Dunnagall and Dun- 
 na-sead, (Baltimore,) by Sleviny. The castle of Traigh- 
 C'haile, near the harbour of Cuan-Dor, (Glandore,) by 
 Barrett. This castle was afterwards called Clogha- 
 tradbally, and belonged to Donell na Carton O'Donovan, 
 chief of Clan-loughlin, who died in 1580. The castles 
 of Timoleague and Dundeady, by Nicholas Boy de 
 Barry. The castle of Carrigaline, by De Cogan, and 
 of Ahamartha, by the Fitzgeralds, both on the Carrig- 
 aline river, and Lohart castle, near Cecilstown, in 
 the possession of the Earl of Egmont, which, although 
 in a state of great preservation, is thought, by Smith 
 and others, to have been built in the reign of king 
 John. It is generally supposed, that the castle of 
 Barry's court, near Carrigtwohill, was built during the 
 same century. "We suspect it is of a more modern 
 date, although there is a tradition that Giraldus Cam- 
 brensis, who was a Barry, composed a portion of his 
 work on the Irish conquest within its walls. It is a 
 large quadrangular structure, with three towers, com- 
 municating at each story with the principal apartments 
 of the quadrangle. The arches are beautifully turned, 
 and the marks of the chisel on the cut-stone round the
 
 THE DE BAHRYS. 29 
 
 doors and windows, look as fresh as if executed a few 
 years ago. 
 
 Philip de Barry (Fitzstephen's sister's son) suc- 
 ceeded to his uncle's large inheritance. Giraldus says 
 that Philip's father, Robert de Barry, was the first 
 man that was wounded in the conquest of Ireland, 
 he had some hard fighting with Donald, prince of 
 Ossory " he was the first that ever manned a hawk 
 in this island," which afterwards became so celebrated 
 for its hawks. " Ee was a man rather ambitious to be 
 eminent, than to seem so," 
 
 JP-hilip de Barry was succeeded by his son William, 
 to whom king John gave a confirmatory charter. This 
 charter " confirmed to William de Barry, the donation 
 made by Robert Fitzstephen to his father, of " three 
 cantreds of his lands in Cork, i.e. Olethian, with its 
 appurtenances, and of the other two cantreds, i.e. Mus- 
 cherie Dunegan, and the cantred of Killede." 
 
 This cantred of O'Lethan, or O'Leahan, was situated 
 in the barony of Barrymore. It was possessed origin- 
 ally by the Mac Carthys, the O'^oonans, the O'Dalys, 
 the Galweys, the O'Lynchs, the O'Xellehers, the 
 O'Regans, and the O'Leahans, now Anglicised Lyom, 
 from whom the whole district took its name. Here 
 we have Castle-Lyons. This family derived its name 
 from Eochaidh Leathonach, the second son of Daire 
 Cearba. 
 
 We discover, by an inquisition taken in Cork, 
 before William de Rose, Chief Justice of Ireland, 
 that the great island on which Queenstown stands, was 
 included in this cantred, and was in the possession of 
 the Barrys in 1355. " The extent of Ily-Liathnm
 
 30 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 appears^' says Doctor O'Donovan, " from various an- 
 cient Irish and Anglo-Irish authorities, the present 
 village of Castle-Lyons, or Caislean Ui Liathain, and 
 the island of Oilean-Mor-Arda-Neimhedh, now the 
 Great Island, near Cork, are mentioned in it." 
 
 By the cantred of Killede or Killeagh, we understand 
 the present barony of Imokilly,* which was originally 
 in the possession of the O'Eonaynes, O'Lomascys, and 
 O'Brigans. The De Eupes, or Eoches, got possession, at 
 an early period, of the south-western part of the 
 peninsula we still have Eoche's tower, and Trabolgan, 
 the principal residence of Edmund Burke Eoche, now 
 Baron Fermoy and the Eitzgeralds, the Earls of 
 Desmond, of the north-eastern portion. 
 
 The cantred of Muscherie-Dunegant constituted 
 the present baronies of Orrery and Kilmore, with 
 Buttevant as the principal town. The O'Donegans, 
 the O'v ullanans, and the Mac Clancys, or MacClanchys, 
 were the original inhabitants of this district, before the 
 Anglo-Norman invasion. We learn from O'Brien, 
 the author of an Irish Dictionary, that " O'Donegan 
 was chief lord, or petty king," of Muscherie-Dunegan, 
 in the end of the tenth century. He refers it to " the 
 judicious reader, if it be a likely story, that one Cairlre 
 MusC) supposed son of a king of Meath, in the beginning 
 of the third century, should have given the name of 
 Muscry, [Muskerry] to every one of those territories, 
 
 * Imokilly may be {WTO. Ibh-a-cill -Hath, " the country of the grey church," e. 
 the old church of Oloyne ? Mr Hackett derives Imokilly from Ibh-imtc-Olla, the 
 " country of the great pig." There is a tradition, that a great boar which kept 
 the country in a state of alarm, was killed in this district. Ther were wild boars 
 in Ireland at an early period. 
 
 t Muscforie -Duneffan. Smith speaks of a " Muskerry- Don egan, a tract lying 
 round Baltimore," but this Muscherie-Dunegan, was "eastward" where the 
 three cantreds " fell to Fitzstephen's lot."
 
 DE RTJPE OR ROCHE. 31 
 
 so widely distant from each other in the province of 
 M mister." 
 
 William Barry, whose war cry, " Boutez-en-avant," 
 gave name to Buttevaot, founded the priory of 
 Ballibeg, for St. Austin Canons, the revenues of which 
 were enlarged by his son David, in 1231. 
 
 King John also made royal grants to Adam de 
 Rape, or Roche, to Richard de Cogan, to Robert Fitz- 
 Martin, and to Henry and Maurice Fitz-Philip, who 
 were brothers, 
 
 " To Adam de Rupe, (or Roch,) the cantred of Ross- 
 elirir, with its appurtenances, save the demenses of 
 the bishop of that see, by the service of five knights." 
 Ros-ailither, the *' Wood of the Pilgrims," now Ross- 
 carbery, is described in the life of Saint Fachtna, the 
 patron of the district,* as in australi Hibcrnice parte, 
 juxta mare, "in the southern part of Ireland, near the 
 sea." 
 
 The O'Learys, the O'Heas, the O'Flynns, and the 
 O'Deasys, were the original proprietors of the district. 
 These names prevail in this part of the country to the 
 present day. The Right Honorable Kickard Deasy, 
 of Clonakilty, our present respected Attorney-general, 
 is a descendent of the Deasys of Rosscarbery and 
 Ibaune. We could also point to numerous instances 
 in which the old Gorman and Celtic blood have been 
 united. 
 
 Milo de Cogan, who was slain at Lismore, was suc- 
 ceeded by Richard de Cogan, to whom kiug John 
 made a grant of the cantred of Muscrie O'Mullane, 
 
 * Tte patron of the district. We haTe the death of " Connmhach, abbot of 
 Ros-ailither," recorded ui the Annals ol' Ireland for 824.
 
 32 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 lying between the harbour of Cork and the port of 
 Insovenagh; in other words, between the harbours 
 of Cork and Kinsale, in the baronies of Kerricurrihy 
 and Kinnalea. Here the famous Dermot Mac Carthy, 
 king of Cork, had his royal residence. Here, in 
 ancient maps, we find the Danish names of Gowle, 
 Coppinger, and Skiddie. Here, we suspect, lay the 
 Danish cantred, and king John's " demesnes." In 
 granting to DeCogan an additional twenty -five knights' 
 fees,* or thirty thousand acres, there is a " saving to 
 the king and his heirs, the aforesaid harbour and his 
 own demesnes." 
 
 The De Cogans built the castle of Carrigaline in this 
 district, the picturesque ruinsf of which remain to the 
 present day. Part of the lands in this neighbourhood, 
 as Ballybricken, Fort Prospect, Einnaskiddy, Cora- 
 binny, and Coolmore (which form a peninsula), were 
 called in old manuscripts the Long-a-Gowgon, " the 
 ship of Cogan." In the parish of Barnahealy are 
 the ruins of an old castle of the De Cogans, incorpo- 
 rated with a modern structure called Warren's Court. 
 Above a door- way of cut stone we have an effigy of a 
 knight, perhaps Richard or Milo himself ; and near by 
 is the grave-yard of Barnahealy, where tradition has 
 buried the elder knight ; but this, we think, is a mis- 
 take, for Milo de Cogan fell at Lismore. There was a 
 
 * Knights' fees varied in value and extent of land. They sometimes consisted 
 of 800, and sometimes of 680 acres ; estimated at 15, sometimes at 20, and in 
 later times at 40 a year. 
 
 t The picturesque ruins. Smith, who is generally correct, says (writing 
 more than a hundred years ago) " the castle is entirely demolished." Another 
 writer, following Smith, informs us there is not a " vestige" of the castle in 
 existence. It is still a fine and extensive ruin. It is probable that this castle 
 'was built by Richard, and not by Aiilo de Cogan, wlio resided, for safety, in the 
 citv.
 
 JOHN DE COURCY. 33 
 
 Richard de Cogan, lord of the manor of Barnahealy, 
 in 1536. 
 
 The twenty-five knights' fees were to be " set out" 
 to Richard de Cogan, " in some other place," under the 
 advice of John Mareschall, and Meiler Fitz-Eenry, 
 Lord Justice of Ireland. We suspect this portion of 
 his inheritance was chosen near the port of Insovenagh, 
 or Kinsale, where we see the name of De Cogan and 
 De Courcy lying together, in ancient maps. Myles 
 de Courcy, the son of the celebrated John de Courcy, 
 married a De Cogan, and built a castle on the Head of 
 Kinsale. 
 
 The romantic fortunes and misfortunes of John de 
 Courcy, the ancestor of John Constantine de Courcy, 
 the present lord of Kinsale, are more strange, and 
 apparently extravagant, than any fiction ever penned ; 
 but they, notwithstanding, form a veritable part of 
 history. We have an -impression, though we are 
 unable at the present moment to give our authority, 
 that Merlin, a Welsh bard or seer, had predicted the 
 conquests of the knight above whose helm three 
 eagles* were displayed. 
 
 The De Courcy s claim alliance with most of the 
 royal families of Europe, paternally, through the Dukes 
 of Lorraine, and maternally, through the house of 
 Normandy. 
 
 John de Courcy was sent to Ireland by Henry II., 
 in 1177, to assist William Fitz-Adelmt in the govern- 
 
 * Three eaffles.The De Courcy, or Kinsale arms are" Argent, three eagles, 
 displayed, gules, ducally crowned, or. Crest, on a ducal coronet, or, an eagle, 
 displayed, argent." Burke' s Peerage. 
 
 f William Mtz-Adelm.King Henry the Third made a grant in 1225 to 
 Richard de Burgo, or Mac William, (the Sun of this William Fitz-Adelm,) f the 
 province of Connaught.
 
 34 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 ment of this kingdom. He invaded Ulster at the head 
 of twenty-two knights, fifty esquires, and about three 
 hundred foot soldiers, which he won after some hard 
 fighting, and for which he was created in 1181, Earl 
 of Ulster. He was the first of those Norman knights 
 that received an Irish title from an English sovereign. 
 His honors and success excited the fierce jealousy of 
 Hugh de Lacy, who asserted that De Courcy had 
 publicly accused King John of the murder of his own 
 nephew, Arthur, Duke of Bretagne. When this report 
 reached John's ears, he commanded his faithful friend 
 and servant, Sir Hugh de Lacy, to seize that traitor, 
 John de Courcy, and send him bound to England. 
 But to seize De Courcy was more easily said than done, 
 for he was a man of gigantic stature and strength. Of 
 his opponent, De Lacy's presence, we know nothing. 
 His father is thus described by Holinshed: "His 
 eyes were dark and deep set, his neck short, his stature 
 small, his body hairy, not fleshy, but sinewy, strong, 
 and compact; a very good soldier, but rather rough 
 and hasty." 
 
 De Courcy, hearing of De Lacy's purpose to arrest 
 him, offered him single combat, which he declined, 
 saying, " It was not for him, who represented the 
 king's person, (he was at this time Governor of Ireland) 
 to hazard his life with an inferior," whom he styled a 
 "subject," and a "traitor." His inferior he was 
 not they were both earls ; De Lacy, Earl of Meath, 
 De Courcy, Earl of Ulster. Neither of them were 
 particularly "subject" to the powers that be, any 
 longer than it suited their purposes. His traitorous 
 language was unproved. But De Lacy issued a pro-
 
 JOHN DE COURCY. 35 
 
 clamation, offering a large reward to any one who 
 would deliver up De Courcy, dead or alive. It was 
 Good Friday Bad Friday for De Courcy. On that 
 day, as our Annalists inform us, he bore no arms, and 
 wore no armour, but was wholly given up to divine 
 contemplation. Now pacing, " all solitary," round the 
 church of Downpatrick, and now kneeling before a 
 huge wooden cross, perhaps mentally ejaculating a 
 Salus in Cruse, or a Sub hoc signo mnces, or his 
 own motto, Vincet omnia veritas, when, tl The 
 Philistines are upon thee, Sampson." He tears up the 
 cross; his only weapon, and lays about him with 
 all his herculean might, leaving thirteen of his assail- 
 ants dead at his feet. But he is at length overpowered 
 by numbers, seized, bound, and shipped to England, 
 where he is condemned to perpetual imprisonment in 
 the Tower of London. 
 
 " He lieth low in a dungeon now, 
 Powerless, in proud despair, 
 For false King John hath cast him in, 
 And closely chained him there." 
 
 There he lies, and grows gaunt and mcrose, when a 
 dispute arises between John of England and Philip 
 Augustus of France, on their respective and clashing 
 titles to the Duchy of Normandy. It was resolved 
 to decide the affair by two champions, instead of by a 
 general engagement. The French champion is chosen, 
 and sends his challenge, but there was no knight in 
 England, Ireland, or Normandy, to accept it. Even 
 Hugh de Lacy declines the high honor; when a 
 courtier whispers to king John that De Courcy, who 
 now lies in the tower, is the only man in his wide
 
 36 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 dominions that is able to meet the French champion. 
 The king sends to the earl, who replies, "Not for him; 
 I esteem him unworthy the adventure of my blood. 
 He has rewarded my loyalty to his person, and services 
 to the crown, by imprisoning me, unheard, at the suit 
 of my rival and enemy, Hugh de Lacy." 
 
 The Hng becomes a suppliant, and sends a third 
 time, when the grim features of De Courcy relax, as 
 he replies, " For the crown and dignity of the realm, in 
 which many an honest man liveth against his will, I 
 am contented to hazard my life." The king swallows 
 all this, and a great deal more, with a good grace. 
 De Courcy is released from the tower, made much 
 of, " cherished and fed wonderfully," and attains great 
 bulk by the sudden change " from hard keeping, to so 
 large an allowance of diet." 
 
 The day of combat, which is to come off in Normandy, 
 arrives. The trumpets of the heralds sound, and the 
 champions enter the lists, in the presence of the 
 assembled kings and nobles of England, France, and 
 Scotland, surrounded by the chivalry and beauty of 
 the three kingdoms. De Courcy, armed with a tre- 
 mendous sword, for which he had sent to Ireland, 
 approaches his adversary, eyes him with a " wonder- 
 fully stern countenance,'' not unmingled with contempt, 
 and rides by. That grim look has decided the contest. 
 It froze the Frenchman's blood. When the trumpet 
 sounded for the onset, that Frenchman took to his 
 heels, or more correctly, put spurs to his horse, broke 
 through the lists, and fled into Spain.* The men 
 
 * And fled into Spain. Hanmer's description of the combat is very graphic-. 
 " The day came, the place and lists were appointed, and the scaffolds were set up. 
 The princes, with their nobility on both sides, waited the issue of the battle.
 
 JOHN DE COTJRCY. 37 
 
 threw up their caps and clapped their hands, the 
 ladies smiled on the Anglo-Norman, and jeered the 
 poltroon Frenchman. The victory was adjudged to 
 De Courcy, and the Duchy of Normandy to King 
 John. 
 
 Philip of France, wishing to see a specimen of De 
 Courcy's great strength and swordsmanship, the 
 King of England ordered a helmet of " excellent proof," 
 and a shirt of mail, to be laid upon a block. The 
 Earl, frowning grimly on their Highnesses of England 
 and of France, raised his sword, and cut helmet and 
 shirt of mail asunder at a blow, striking his weapon 
 so deeply into the timber, that he alone could draw it 
 hence. The kings inquired why he had eyed them 
 with so grim a face ? " If I had missed my stroke, I 
 should have cut off both your heads," was his reply, 
 which was taken in good part. 
 
 King John restored the champion to his titles and 
 estates, in Ulster, valued at 25,000 marks per annum, 
 and asked him if there was any other favour he could 
 bestow. The favor he asked was, that he and his suc- 
 cessors^ for all ages, should remain uncovered in the 
 presence of the king, and his successors. This request 
 was both willingly and graciously granted by the 
 king, and the privilege is enjoyed to the present 
 
 The French champion first sallied forth, gave a turn, and rested himself in his 
 tent. De Courcy was sent for, who was trussing himself up with strong points, 
 and answered the messengers, that ' if any of their company were to go to such a 
 banqwt, ke would make no great haste.' He soon after came forth, gave a turn, 
 and went into his tent. When the trumpets sounded the charge, the champio ns 
 issued out, and viewed each other. De Courcey eyed his adversary with a won- 
 derfully stern countenance, and passed hy. The Frenchman, not likinghis grim 
 look, and the strong proportion of his person, stalked still along. When the 
 trumpets sounded to oattle a second time, De Courcy drew his sword, up on 
 which the Frenchman clapped spurs to his horse, broke through the harrier, and 
 fled into Spain." Haunter, p. 134,
 
 38' HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 day, by John Constantino do Courcy, the twenty-ninth 
 lord of Kingsale.* 
 
 " So he gave this graceful honor, 
 To the bold De Courcj's race, 
 That they ever should dare, their helms to wear, 
 Before the king's own face, 
 And the sons of that line of heroes, 
 To this day their right assume, 
 For when every head is unhonnetted, 
 They walk in cap and plume." 
 
 When William III., Prince of Orange, inquired the 
 cause why Almericus, the twenty-third lord of Kinsale, 
 appeared covered in his presence, this Irish nobleman 
 replied, " May it please your Majesty, my name is 
 De Courcy, and I am lord of Kinsale, in the kingdom 
 of Ireland. The reason of my appearing covered in 
 your Majesty's presence is, to assert the ancient privi- 
 lege of my family, granted to Sir John de Courcy, earl 
 of Ulster, and his heirs, by John, king of England, for 
 him and his successors for ever."']' William graciously 
 acknowleged his right, gave him his hand, and said : 
 " / now remember to have had such a nobleman. 77 
 
 This privilege or practice of wearing the hat, in the 
 presence of royalty, is not altogether unique, or con- 
 fined to this family, or these countries. A grandee of 
 the first class in Spain is privileged to remain covered 
 before the sovereign. A grandeeship, or any number 
 of grandeeships, may be inherited, " without merger," 
 through males and females. Hence the phrase of a 
 noble's having so many " hats," that is, so many rights 
 and privileges to wear his hat in the presence of 
 royalty. 
 
 * Lord of Eingsale, from Cean-Saik, " the Head of the Sea." 
 t Almericus had been in rebellion, and outlawed, for his adhesion to Jame* II. 
 William was pleased not to remember tkii.
 
 MYLES DE COURCY. 39 
 
 Notwithstanding the royal pardon, Sir John de 
 Courcy lost the earldom and estates of Ulster, which 
 were claimed by Hugh de Lacy, who said, as De Courcy 
 had never returned to Ireland, to have his outlawry 
 reversed, that he would maintain and retain the grant 
 in Ulster which the king had made him. De Courcy 
 had fifteen times attempted to cross into Ireland, but 
 was put back by contrary winds ; upon which he 
 altered his course and went to France, where, it would 
 appear, he was slain by Walter, Earl of Meath, and 
 Hugh, Earl of Ulster, the two sons of Hugh de Lacy. 
 The murder of this noble knight^seems to have excited 
 the indignation of the king. We s find the following 
 passage in the Annals of Kilronan : 
 
 " A.D. 1210. Johannes, the son of Fitz-Empress, king of 
 England, came to Ireland with a great fleet this year. On his arri- 
 val he levied a great army of the men of Ireland, to march them to 
 Ulster, to take Hugh de Lacy, and to take Carrickfergus. Hugh 
 departed from Ireland ; and those who were guarding Carrickfergus 
 left it, and came to the king. The king marched from Dublin into 
 Meath, and dispatched a large fleet northwards, to a fortress of the 
 English, called Carlingford, to command the sons of Hugh de Lacy, 
 viz., Walter, Lord of Meath, and Hugh, Earl of Ulster, and then 
 Lord, Deputy of Ireland, to appear before him, to answer for the 
 death of the valiant knight, John De Courcy, who was treacherously 
 slain by them." 
 
 De Courcy left issue by his wife, Africa, the daughter 
 of Godfrey, king of the Isle of Man, Myles de Courcy, 
 who was created Baron of Kinsale the 29th of May, 
 1223. This Myles married a De Cogan, built a castle 
 near the old Head of Kinsale, and another at Ring- 
 rone, where he and De Cogan slew Keann Eoin, or 
 Eingrone Mac Carthy.
 
 40 HISTOET OF COKK. 
 
 Myles was succeeded by his grandson, Sir John 
 de Courcy, who built the castle of Kilbrittan, of which 
 he was afterwards dispossessed by Mac Carthy Eeagh, 
 by whom he was slain, in the island of Inehedonny, 
 in the harbour of Clonakilty, in 1295. 
 
 "Walter de la flaye, the king's Escheator in Ireland, 
 took possession of the De Courcy property, and made 
 it over, for a composition, 12 12s. per annum, on 
 James Keating, " for the use of the heir of the said 
 John Lord Courcy." 
 
 According to this deed, the De Courcy property con- 
 sisted of " The manor of Kilbrittan, Ringrone, with 
 the mills and fisheries ; the lands of Carrotsheran, 
 Holderness, Liffynin, Fathax, Lyside, and Kingsale, in 
 the county Cork ; and the country of Glynardall and 
 other lands in the county of Kerry." 
 
 The title of Baron, or Yiscount Kinsale, was fraudu- 
 lently assumed by Sir Dominick Sarsfield, in 1627. 
 John, Lord Courcy, and his son Gerald Courcy, peti- 
 tioned the king against the pretender to the title. 
 The petition was referred to the judges, who made the 
 following report : 
 
 "According to your majesty's pleasure, and upon a full hearing 
 of the council, learned on both sides, we find it apparently proved, 
 by ancient records, entries in parliament, etc. that the Lord Courcy, 
 and his ancestors, have, time out of mind, been styled Barons of 
 Kinsale and Ringroan. Although in some records, he is only called 
 Lord Courcey, and Baron de Courcy, this argument being only 
 grounded on omission, we hold to be of little force, as it is usual 
 where divers baronies are in the same person, for the baron to name 
 himself by the chief barony, and to forbear naming the rest, yet 
 we find the same person, called Lord Kingsale, and baron of 
 Courcey, long before this question was stirred. Then the Lord 
 Viscount endeavoured to carry the barony into another line, and to
 
 SARSFIELD AND CAREW. 41 
 
 shew the title was extinct by attainder, but both these allegations 
 were clearly answered, so that we are fully satisfied, the barony of 
 Kiusale anciently belonged to the Lord Courcey. Then it was 
 alleged to have bolh titles stand, the one to be Viscount and the 
 other to be Baron of Kinsale, which we conceive would be con- 
 founding titles of honour, and be of ill consequence ; therefore, we 
 cannot advise your majesty to suffer it ; but we are of opinion, that 
 Sir Dominick Sarsfield may retain the degree that he now hath, 
 taking his title from some other place in Ireland, or else to be 
 called Viscount Sarsfield. For that your majesty was not informed, 
 that the title of Kinsale was given to any other baron, which the 
 patent may recite ; and that, for the future, he shall be stiled by 
 the new title, and not by that of Kinsale ; all which we humbly 
 present, and leave to your majesty's good pleasure. 
 
 MARLBOROTTGH, 
 MANCHESTEB, 
 PEMBROKE, 
 TOTNESS, 
 
 March 19th, 1647." 
 
 GKAKDESONE. 
 
 This assumption of Irish titles was by no means a 
 rare occurrence. We find Thomas de Carew, in the 
 reign of Edward III., setting up a title, as heir to 
 Fitzstephen. Carew' s right was tried in Cork, before 
 Sir Anthony Lucy, Lord Justice of Ireland. The 
 decision was as follows : 
 
 " That Robert Fitzstephen died seized of the moiety of the 
 estate granted "by King Henry II. to him and Cogan ; and that the 
 said Fitzstephen was a bastard,* and died without issue of his body ; 
 that the claim of Thomas de Carew, asserting that he and his ances- 
 tors were heirs to Fitzstephen, could not be true, because the said 
 Fitzstephen was a bastard, and died without heir of his body ; and 
 further, that the said Fitzstephen, in his life time, enfeoffed Maurice 
 Fitzthomas, before he was created Earl of Desmond, of the castle 
 and manor of Dunemarke, and the moiety of the estate granted 
 him by King Henry II." 
 
 * Wo* a bastard. b. collateral branch cannot be heir to a bastard.
 
 42 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 We learn from Odericus Yitalis, a monk of Utica, 
 and a writer of Norman history, that the Carews were 
 descended from Arnolph de Montgomery, by Lafracoth, 
 the daughter of an Irish king. Arnolph built the 
 castle of Pembroke (from which he derived the title of 
 earl), and which he fortified for his brother, the Earl of 
 Shrewsbury, against Henry I. They were both ba- 
 nished the realm in 1112, at which time the castle and 
 estates of Pembroke were forfeited to the crown. Their 
 posterity took the name of Carew, and came to Ireland 
 to improve their fortunes. We do not imagine that 
 they laid claim to the inheritance of Fitzstephen in 
 right of their Irish grandmother, Lafracoth. 
 
 Edward II. issued a precept in 1310, authorising 
 Maurice de Carew to distrain the lands of Maurice de 
 Barry and Maurice Fitzgerald, for services and duties 
 to the said Maurice de Carew, as lord of their posses- 
 sions. Among the Carew papers, in the Lambeth 
 Library (fol. 38), is a note of such lands as Thomas 
 Fitzmaurice held of Maurice de Carew, at the death 
 of said Thomas; which lands were forfeited to the 
 crown, but restored to Carew in 1312. We have 
 also a deed, bearing date 1334, from John de Carew, 
 lord of the manor of Castle-Cork, to Eichard Fitz-Peter 
 de Carew, in which he invests him with the custody 
 of all the lands belonging to George Fitzadam.* It 
 appears from another M.S. in the same library, that 
 Castle-Cork, and " lands which amounted to near one- 
 half the county," were delivered into the hands of 
 Eichard, the son of Sir Peter Carew, in 1567. 
 
 * George Fitzadam. Was this a descendant of William Fitz-Adelm, the ances- 
 tor of the De Burgos ?
 
 SIR PETER CAREW. 43 
 
 A title to nearly the half of the county was set up 
 by Sir Peter in 1568. Sir Peter sent his agent, John 
 Hooker, to Cork, who had a " solemn meeting" with 
 Mac Carthy Eeagh, Sir Cormac Mac Teig, Lord of 
 Muskerry, Barry-Oge, O'Driscol, O'Daly, and others. 
 They proposed, if Sir Peter would live among them, 
 to pay " an annual reasonable rent," and to advance 
 3,000 kine, with sheep, hogs, and corn, to stock his 
 farm. Hooker closed upon this offer, took a house for 
 Sir Peter in Cork, and another in Kinsale. Sir Peter 
 set-out to take possession, but fell sick on the way, and 
 died in Eoss (in Wexford) the 27th of November, 1575.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE EABLS OF DESMOND IRISH UTEBATURE AND LAWS. 
 A.D. 1295 U62. 
 
 THE Fitzgeralds became possessed of the largest portion 
 of the estates originally chartered to Fitzstephen, and 
 De Cogan. We learn from the decision of the Chief 
 Justice, Sir Anthony Lucy, given in Cork, (the 31st 
 of August, and 5th of Edward III.) on the claim set 
 up by Thomas de Carew, that " the said Fitzstephen, in 
 his life-time, enfeoffed Maurice Fitzthomas, before he 
 was created Earl of Desmond, of the castle and manor 
 of Dunnemarke, and the moiety of the estate granted 
 to him by Henry II." 
 
 There must be a mistake here. Maurice Fitzthomas, 
 who was the first Earl of Desmond, was so created in 
 1329, that is 144 years after Fitzstephen's death. It 
 was to Maurice Fitzgerald, who came over with Fitz- 
 stephen, that "Fitzstephen, in his life-time, enfeoffed" 
 the castle and manor of Dunnemarc. 
 
 There were in all eighteen Anglo-Norman earls of 
 Desmond. They traced their descent from the Dukes 
 of Tuscany. They came from Florence to Normandy, 
 and from Normandy to England, with William the 
 Conqueror. Maurice Fitzgerald, from whom the Earls
 
 THE FITZGERALDS. 45 
 
 of Desmond were descended, came to Ireland with 
 Robert Fitzstephen, and other Anglo-Norman chiefs, 
 in A.D. 1170, and assisted Strongbow in the reduction 
 of Ireland. 
 
 " A man he was, both honest and wise, and for truth 
 and valour, very noble and famous ; a man of his word, 
 of constant mind, and of a certain bashfulness ; well 
 coloured, and of good countenance ; of middle stature, 
 and compact at all points ; courteous, gentle and 
 moderate, a pattern of sobriety, and good behaviour ; 
 a-man of few words ; his speeches more full of wit and 
 reason than of words; more wisdom he had than 
 eloquence; in martial affairs bold, stout and valiant, 
 and yet not hasty to run headlong into any adventure, 
 but when an attempt was once taken in hand, he would 
 strictly pursue and follow the same." 
 
 Maurice died in 1177, and was succeeded by Gerald, 
 who died in 1205. Gerald left two sons, Maurice, the 
 eldest, and Thomas More. Maurice was the first 
 Baron of Offaly, and Lord Justice of Ireland in 1229. 
 He was the ancestor of the Earls of Kildare, and the 
 Dukes of Leinster. His brother, Thomas More, was 
 the ancestor of the Earls of Desmond. He died in 
 1260, of extreme old age. 
 
 He was succeeded by John of Callan, who was slain 
 in battle in 1261. The Four Masters give us the 
 following description of this battle : 
 
 "A.D. 1261. A great army was marched by the Clan Gerald 
 into Desmond, to attack Fineen Mac Carthy.* Mac Carthy attacked 
 and defeated them, and in this contest were slain eight barons and 
 five knights, besides others of the English nobles ; as also John 
 
 * Fineen Mac Carthy. This -was Fineen Reaim Roin, who was slain this same 
 year by De Courcy and DC Cogan, in the castle of llingrone, near Kiusale.
 
 46 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Fitz-Thomas and Barry More. Countless numbers of the English 
 common soldiers were also killed in the aforesaid battle." 
 
 Callan, or Callainn Gleanna O'Ruachtain, where 
 this battle was fought, is in the parish of Kilgarvan, 
 five miles eastward of Kenmare, in the county of 
 Kerry. The Annals of Innisfallen place it under the 
 year 1260 ; so does Docter Hanmer, from whom we 
 have the following notice : 
 
 " The Carties plaied the divells in Desmond, where they burned, 
 spoiled, preyed, and slue many an innocent. They became so 
 strong, and prevailed so mightily, that for the space (so it is 
 reported) of twelve yeeres, the Desmond durst not put plow in 
 ground in his owne country. At length, through the operation of 
 Satan, a love of discord was thrown betweene the Carties and the 
 O'Driscoles, Odo*,ovaines, Mac Donoch, Mac Mahonna, Mac S wines, 
 and the inhabitants of Muscrie, in so much, that by their cruell 
 dissention they weakened themselves of all sides, that the Desmond 
 in the end overcame and over-topped them all." Hanmer' s Chro- 
 nicle, Dublin edition of 18Q9, p. 400. 
 
 John of Callan had five sons Maurice, who was 
 slain in 1261, with his father, Maurice, the ancestor 
 of the Knights of Kerry ; Gibbon, the ancestor of the 
 White Knights, (hence the surname of the family of 
 Fitzgibbon) ; John More, the ancestor of the Knights 
 of Glyn, and Thomas, the ancestor of John of Kerry. 
 
 Maurice, the eldest son, who was slain in 1261, left 
 two sons, Thomas Na n-appadh, who died in 1296, and 
 Sir Richard, the ancestor of the Seneschal of Imo- 
 killy. 
 
 Thomas Nappagh ( lt of the Apes"), was the father of 
 Maurice, the first Earl of Desmond. He (i.e. Thomas 
 Nappagh,) was Baron of Oifaly, and Captain of 
 Desmond, and so powerful as to be styled Prince, or
 
 FIRST EAEL OF DESMOND. 47 
 
 Euler of Minister. He was surnamed Nappagh, (na 
 n-Appadh,) from a remarkable circumstance which 
 occurred to him in Tralee, when only nine months 
 old. On the news of his father's death, (who was 
 slain at Callan, in 1261), the nurse rushed out of 
 the house, leaving the child alone. A large monkey 
 seized the opportunity of carrying off the child, and of 
 taking it up to the top of the castle. After some time, 
 it brought it back, and deposited it safe in the 
 cradle. From this time, the monkey has held an 
 honorable place in the armorial bearings of the family. 
 
 Maurice, son of Thomas of the Apes, was created 
 Earl of Desmond in 1329. He is styled by Doctor 
 Smith " the most active nobleman in the kingdom." 
 Being summoned by the Lord Justice Sir John D' Arcy, 
 to suppress rebellious septs in Leinster, he came into 
 the field at the head of a thousand men, and routed 
 the rebels. For his thousand men he had the promise 
 of the king's pay, but the revenue of the kingdom * 
 being unequal to such an expenditure, he introduced 
 the custom of imposing coin and livery, that is, horse- 
 meat, men's-meat, and money for other expenses. It 
 is asserted, that by such extortions his income rose 
 from one thousand to ten thousand marks a year. 
 
 His ambition rose with his income. He rejected 
 the English laws, and claimed the right of governing 
 the counties of Cork, Waterford, Limerick, and Kerry, 
 by what Cox and Smith style " the barbarous customs 
 of the Irish." Upon his refusing to swear fealty to 
 
 * The revenue of tfie kingdom of Ireland in the 29th of Edward III. was 2,285 
 less than its expenses. The following year the deficiency amounted to 2,880; 
 the next year it was 1,808 ; nor did Ireland pay for its keep during any one year 
 of the next reign, that of liichard II.
 
 48 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 the English crown, he was committed (by the Lord 
 Justice, Eoger Outlaw,) to the custody of the marshal 
 of Limerick, from whom he escaped. He was retaken 
 soon after by Sir Anthony Lucy, and released upon a 
 solemn oath of fidelity. His sincerity being suspected, 
 he was retaken, and confined for eighteen months in 
 Dublin castle, till he found security for his future good 
 behaviour. 
 
 Edward III. having discovered that the over-large 
 grants of land made to Anglo-Norman lords, had raised 
 them to the position of Irish kings, and produced the 
 same insubordination and anarchy which had existed 
 before the conquest, attempted to curtail, and in some 
 instances to nullify and resume these lordly inherit- 
 ances, which produced a rebellion among Irish lords 
 that was headed by the Earl of Desmond. The 
 king sent over Ralph Ufford, who summoned a parlia- 
 ment to meet in Dublin, on the 7th of June, 1345. 
 The Earl of Desmond not only refused to attend,* but 
 summoned an opposition parliament to meet at Callan, 
 in the county of Kilkenny, which so provoked Ufford, 
 that he confiscated Desmond's lands, and attempted to 
 seize his person, but not succeeding, took two of his 
 castles, Iniskysty and Island Castle, and hung three of 
 his followers, Sir Eustace Power, Sir William Grant, 
 and Sir John Cotterel. 
 
 These severe measures of the Lord Justice, who is 
 described as " over rigorous, greedy of amassing wealth, 
 and an improper person," were discountenanced by 
 
 * Refused to attend. To refuse to attend these parliaments was esteemed a 
 very high misdemeanour. A fine of 200 marks was imposed on Lord fioche for 
 refusing to attend a parliament convened the 20th of Edward II. The son of 
 this Lord Roche got the fine reduced to 10 by Edward III.
 
 MAURICE OGE. 49 
 
 nearly all the other Irish knights and noblemen, 
 twenty-six of whom bound themselves for Desmond's 
 appearance at an appointed day. 
 
 A parliament was called the next year, 1346, 
 which Desmond also refused to attend, uniting with 
 his cousin, the Earl of Kildare, in calling a council in 
 Kilkenny. Here articles were drawn up, which caused 
 the removal of the Lord Justice. He was replaced by 
 Sir Walter Bermingham, who procured the earl liberty 
 to manage his cause. Desmond went to England, was 
 kindly received by the king, and allowed twenty 
 shillings a day to defray his expenses. " Being very 
 active in his own cause, he obtained satisfaction for 
 the wrongs done him by Sir Ealph Ufford, so that in 
 the year 1352 he was restored to all his castles and 
 jurisdictions." 
 
 He was, after this, made Lord Justice of Ireland 
 for life. He died in Dublin Castle, the 25th of 
 January, 1355, and was buried in the church of the 
 Black Friars, and thence removed to the Dominican 
 Abbey in Tralee. He married Margaret, daughter of 
 Eichard de Burgo, Earl of Ulster. 
 
 Maurice Oge, the eldest son of the first earl, suc- 
 ceeded his father, but he enjoyed the property and the 
 title but three years, during which he seems to have 
 waged fierce war with the De Burgos and Poers. 
 Lord Arnold Poer had called his father a rhymer, 
 Perhaps the old earl made but indifferent verses ; but 
 the son could not brook the taunt, so to war they went. 
 He is supposed to have died at Castlemaine in 1358.* 
 
 * Castlemaine in 1358. O'Flahcrty adds to the year 1357, in II. 2. 11 : 
 " Comes Uesmonia transfretando submersus."
 
 50 HISTORY OF CORK, 
 
 Edward III., on account of the disturbed state 
 of Munster, granted to John, his brother (who 
 afterwards succeeded to the title), the serjeantcies of 
 the counties of Cork, Kerry, and Waterford, and the 
 custody of all Maurice's castles and lands, "with the 
 exception of the dower of Aveline, widow of said 
 Maurice, and Beatrix, widow of said earl." These 
 privileges had been previously conferred on Maurice, 
 on the payment of one rose per annum. John died in 
 1367. 
 
 John was succeeded by his brother Gerald, or 
 Garrett, the poet, who became Lord Deputy of Ireland 
 in 1368, a dignity which he enjoyed but one year, 
 giving place to Sir William de Windsor. The poet 
 was taken prisoner, with other noble persons, on the 
 6th of July, 1370, near the monastery of Maio, 
 in the county of Limerick. His captors were O'Brien 
 and Macnamara, of Thomond. He is described as a 
 man of gaiety and affability, an Irish scholar and poet, 
 and the most distinguished of the English in Ireland. 
 ** The Lord Garrett, earle of Desmond, a nobleman of 
 wonderful bountie, cheerfulness in conversation, chari- 
 table in his deeds, easy of access, a witty and ingenious 
 composer of Irish poetry, and a learned and profound 
 chronicler ; in fine, one of the English nobility that 
 had Irish learning, and professors thereof, in greatest 
 reverence." Annals of Clonmacnoue. 
 
 These Geraldines were becoming, at this early 
 period, as Irish as the Irish themselves Irish in the 
 highest and best sense of the term, in their love and 
 appreciation of Irish literature and literary men. 
 Irish chieftains, from a very early period, practised
 
 DISTINCTION OF CLASSES. 51 
 
 the humility of keeping wise and learned men near 
 their persons, while English princes, to a later period 
 from excess of wisdom, no doubt retained the services 
 of court fools. 
 
 We learn from our Annals, that Irish society was 
 divided into seven classes, which were distinguished 
 by the number of colors in their garments. The 
 garments of a slave contained but one color, those [of 
 a peasant, two ; a soldier, three ; a brughaidh, or public 
 victualler, four ; those of a chieftain, five ; of an ollamh, 
 oiubrehon, six; of a king or queen, seven; which 
 seems to have been the number of perfection. 
 
 The Four Masters, under date A.M. 3664, give Tigh- 
 earnmas the credit of introducing the purple, blue, 
 and green dyes, but add " Eochaidh Eadghadhach, 
 who reigned eight years later, was so called, because 
 it was by him the variety of color was first put on 
 clothes in Ireland, to distinguish the honor of each by 
 his raiment, from the lowest to the highest." The 
 Four Masters make a seven-fold distinction, thus : 
 " One color in the clothes of slaves, two in the clothes 
 of soldiers, three in the clothes of goodly heroes, or 
 young lords of territories, six in the clothes of ollamhs, 
 and seven in the clothes of kings and queens," The 
 list is not complete, but it is probable that the 
 robes of kings and queens were distinguished by the 
 seven colors, that for them the royal purple was 
 reserved. 
 
 The veneration entertained for the character of both 
 brehon and ollamh (judge and poet), and the position 
 which they held in kings' palaces, contrasts curiously 
 with the otherwise barbarous condition of society, and
 
 52 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 reflects somewhat to the disadvantage of a later age. 
 The ancients clothed their wise men in purple and 
 scarlet, and adorned their persons with collars and 
 chains of gold ; the moderns " build their sepulchres." 
 "When a brehon or ollamh died the circumstance was 
 deemed of sufficient importance to be entered in the 
 Annals of the Kingdom, " A.D. 1166, Eaynall 
 O'Daly, Ollamh of Desmond, died." 
 
 These learned men received substantial rewards 
 while living. We read as late as A.D. 1578, " John, 
 the son of Donal, son of Teige Mac Clancy, chief pro- 
 fessor of Brehonism to the Earl of Desmond, died. 
 There was not a brehon or judge in the territory of 
 Ireland at this time who had a better landed property 
 and mansion than he had." tempera ! mores ! 
 But truth compels us to record, that Hugh, son of 
 Boethius Mac Clancy, a distinguished brehon, who died 
 in 1575, was not only a " Professor of Poetry and 
 Brehon law," but also " a buyer of mm" and we con- 
 clude, a seller of the same article. He would have 
 ranked as a vintner in the present day. 
 
 The profession of Ard Brehon, or Chief Justice, was 
 deemed of sufficient honor to be adopted by kings' 
 sons : 
 
 " Age of Christ, 14. Cairbre Caitcheann, after having been 
 five years in the sovreignty of Ireland, died. Son to this Cairbre 
 was the very intelligent Morann" 
 
 We learn from the Ledbhar Galhala, that after the 
 inauguration of Fearadhach, (who succeeded Morann's 
 father as monarch of Ireland,) Morann was appointed 
 as chief, or Ard-Breilheamh.
 
 THE ITH-MORANN. 53 
 
 This Morann had a chain, or sin, called Ith-Morann,* 
 which had an extraordinary effect upon the witness. 
 When put round the neck of a guilty person, it squeezed 
 him to suffocation, and when put about the neck of an 
 innocent person, it expanded so as to reach the earth. 
 
 We are disposed to conclude that the links of the 
 chain employed by Morann, were composed of close 
 arguments, or perhaps, cross-examinations (vulgarly 
 styled cross -hackling,) in the use of which our modern 
 brehons, or lawyers, are adepts 
 
 It is by no means improbable, that Irish judges, as 
 well as kings and chieftains, wore golden collars, or 
 muntorcs,-)* We are told by the historian Eollin, 
 but he does not mention his authority that thirty 
 judges were selected out of the principal cities of 
 Egypt, to form a body or assembly for judging the 
 whole kingdom. The president of this senate wore a 
 collar of gold, set with precious stones, at which hung 
 a figure represented as blind, this being called the 
 emblem of Truth. When the president put on this 
 collar it was understood as a signal to enter upon 
 business. He touched the party with it who gained 
 the cause, or in other words, had Truth on his side ; 
 this was the form of passing sentence. 
 
 We find from a state paper, (Number 186,) that 
 the brehons and their laws were in full operation in 
 1557, and recognised, or at least winked at by the 
 
 * Ith-Morann : " Moranus ille Carbrifilius judiciis ferendis a Rege adhibitus, 
 observantissimus requitatis cultor, anulum habuit ea virtute praeditum, ut cujus 
 vis judicii sententiam prommtiaturi, vel testis testiraonium prolaturi eollo circum- 
 datus arete fauces strin^eret ; si latura unguem ab sequo ille, vel hie a veritate 
 diseederet. Unde vulgari diverbio testium colla Moraiii anulo eingi exoptamus." 
 Lynch, p. 128. 
 
 f Muntorcs were collars for the neck. The bracelets and anklets for the 
 arms and legs were
 
 54 HISTORY OF COEff. 
 
 government. In the towns, the king's laws were 
 usually found to prevail, but out of them, either the 
 brehon law, and the statutes of Kilcash, were exclu- 
 sively obeyed; or the lord (of the soil) exercised the 
 option to enforce the one or the other, as he thought 
 most beneficial to himself. 
 
 The fees of brehons were regulated by scale, though 
 they sometimes deviated from it. They were paid by 
 both plaintiff and defendant. We discover, from a 
 presentment made at Waterford, that the " Brehon, who 
 was ordained by Lady Katherine Poer, took for his 
 judgment (called eylegeag) 16d. of every mark sterling 
 both of the plaintiff and defendant." 
 
 This would be 2s. Od. in the pound in money tran- 
 sactions, and would amount to a large sum in the 
 year. But if this covered all the expenses of plaintiff 
 and defendant, they had cause to bless their stars. 
 
 The brehon fines were for stealing a sheep, 5 
 marks ; for drawing a weapon, 20s. ; for cutting a 
 joint a human joint we conclude 100s. We could 
 cut a joint for less money in the present day. We 
 conclude from these fines, that when an Irishman 
 aimed a blow, which he did not intend to be mortal, it 
 was at the joint he struck, thus maiming his opponent 
 for life. The loss of an arm or leg in those days 
 was deemed worthy of public record. In a battle 
 fought between the Geraldines and Mac Carthys, of 
 Carbery, we read " Two or three hundred of the 
 valiant forces of the Geraldines were either slain or 
 drowned ; and although the Carbians were victorious, 
 they sustained a great loss in that battle, for Torlough 
 Kac Sweeney lost a hand and a foot, and was obliged
 
 ERIC OR LEX TALIOXIS. 55 
 
 to use a wooden leg to carry him from that time to his 
 death." It appears from the fines enumerated, that 
 the eric or lex talionis was in full operation among 
 the brehons. Neither the rope, which some consider 
 the perfection of our penal code, nor any other kind of 
 capital punishment, was much in vogue. Even in the 
 case of fiongail, the murder of a relative, lord, or 
 priest, they were rather disposed to leave the murderer 
 to the judgment of God.* 
 
 The eric, or punishment by fine, existed in Ireland 
 fcOfn a very early period. It was similar to the were 
 or wergild of the Saxons. The Normans, who were a 
 people of precise honor, imposed a penalty of five sous 
 (twopence halfpenny) for a tweak of the nose, and ten 
 sous for un coup au derriere. The practice of demand- 
 ing eric for injuries inflicted was adopted by the 
 church. The following is an interesting example of 
 the pertinacity with which an Irish abbot demanded 
 eric for his alumnus or pupil, who had been suffocated 
 in a church fired by O'Conor. The abbot was not at 
 home, but, returning next day, was greatly incensed 
 at the death of his ward, and demanded his eric from 
 O'Conor. O'Conor asked what was his own award. 
 " My award," replied the abbot, " is the very best 
 man among you." "That is Mahon," (the lieutenant) 
 replied O'Conor. " No, but the chief captain, O'Conor," 
 replied Mahon. " I will not go without my eric," 
 
 * The extent to winch the belief of God's retributive judgment (especially in 
 the case of an injury or an injustice done churchmen or their property) prevailed, 
 is illustrated by a story told by Sir Richard Cox. Philip of Worcester, Lord 
 Justice or Governor of Ireland, came over, accompanied by one II ugh Tirrcl, a 
 man of ill report. Tirrel stole a brewing pan from the priests of Armagh. Whut 
 was the consequence ? The house where he lay was burued, alone: with the horses 
 in the stable, and Philip of Worcestor had a severe Jit of the //>')', " so he ^ ;i< 
 fain to leave the pan, for want of the carriage," /. e. the means of carrying it away.
 
 56 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 cried the abbot. The army marched out of the town, 
 and the abbot followed it. In crossing a river, which 
 had overflowed its banks, they had to construct a 
 bridge; they pulled down the chapel-house of Saint 
 John to provide the material. Mahon, who directed 
 the party, was killed by the falling of a rafter; his 
 sudden death, while engaged in this sacrilege, so 
 affected O'Conor, that he gave three times the full of 
 the king's bell, but we are not told of what perhaps 
 wheat together with thirty horses, as an offering for 
 his soul ; and thus it was that the abbot, the coarb of 
 St. Caillin, obtained eric for his ward. 
 
 In a tract on the brehon laws in Trinity College, 
 Dublin (class H. 3, 18, p. 426), we have the fine for 
 a cow's killing a bondsman or bondswoman : 
 
 " If it be a bondsman or bondswoman that has been killed by a 
 cow, the cow is forfeited. Thirty sigals of silver is the fine." 
 
 Doctor Petrie is of opinion that the sigal here men- 
 tioned was a small piece of silver, weighing twenty- 
 four grains, about equal in value to the Eoman denarius. 
 *' Thirty pieces of silver*" 1 was the value of a bondsman 
 or bondswoman among the Jews. u So they weighed 
 for my price thirty pieces of silver." It was for this 
 sum that our Saviour was sold by Judas. Joseph was 
 sold for twenty pieces, but the Midianite merchantmen, 
 who trafficked in slaves, got Joseph under the market 
 price, 
 
 The brehon law was in full operation throughout 
 Ireland during the reign of Henry VIII. The poet 
 Spenser, who flourished during Elizabeth's reign, was 
 under the impression that the English law was inap- 
 plicable to Ireland :
 
 BREHON LAWS. 57 
 
 " The common law is of itself most rightful, and very convenient 
 for the kingdom for which it was first devised; for this I think 
 seems reasonable, that out of the manners of your people and the 
 abuses of your country, for which they were invented, they take 
 their first beginning. Now then, if these laws of Ireland be not 
 likewise applied and fitted to that realm, they are very incon- 
 venient." 
 
 We are not, therefore, surprised, when such opinions 
 prevailed, to find the English law falling into disue- 
 tude, and the halls or courts of justice falling to decay. 
 We find the following complaint, on this score, in a 
 state paper of Henry VIII. 
 
 " And in anywise some order to be taken immediately for the 
 building of the castle hall, where the law is kept, for if the same 
 be not builded, the majesty and estimation of the law shall perish, 
 the justices being then enforced to minister the lawes upon hylles 
 [hills] as it were brehons, or wylde Irishemen, in their eriottes"* 
 State papers, vol. ii.,/>. 501. 
 
 Sir John Davies, the Irish Attorney-general to 
 James L, who should know all about the administration 
 of the law, informs us, that during Sir John Perrott's 
 presidency of Munster, the English law was not in 
 operation, and that " the people were left to be ruled 
 by their own barbarous lords and laws."t Had the 
 Attorney-general been better acquainted with the Irish 
 brehon laws, he would not have styled them barbarous. 
 Sir John Davies himself was on one occasion beholden 
 to a brehon for important information. It was at the 
 assizes of Fermanagh, where the judges and Chancellor 
 were sitting. The difficulty was to discover the tenure 
 
 * Eriot, a meeting or council, at which (he brehons administered their laws. 
 
 f barbarous laws. We cannot quarrel with the Attorney-general for speaking 
 thus, as we find Moirough O'Brien, last king of Thomond speaking of the 
 " naughty laws and customs of Ireland."
 
 58 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 by which Maguire held his lands. O'Breslin, the 
 brehon, was sent for. He was a feeble old man. The 
 judges demanded his roll, which he refused; but on 
 the Lord Chancellor taking an oath he would return it 
 safe, the brehon drew it from his bosom, and handed 
 it up to the court. We are told in one of Sir John 
 Davies' tracts, that it was well written, and contained 
 a correct account of the tribute paid to Maguire, which 
 consisted of cattle, cows, hogs, meal, and butter. 
 Davies took a copy of the roll, which he afterwards 
 lost in Dublin. 
 
 Garrett, the poet Earl of Desmond, whose love of 
 Irish literature has produced this long dissertation, 
 died or disappeared (perhaps to cultivate the muses,) 
 in 1398. Doctor O'Donovan says, "Tradition still 
 vividly remembers this Garrett ; and it is said his 
 spirit appears once in seven years, on Lough Gur, 
 where he had a castle." It would be a happy circum- 
 stance for Celtic literature if his spirit appeared every 
 year. There was a spirit abroad lately which recom- 
 mended the abolition of the professorships of Celtic 
 literature in the Queen's Colleges. We should warn this 
 anti-Irish spirit not to wander, after nightfall, on the 
 margin of Lough Gur. 
 
 In order that the poet's son, James, should receive 
 a thoroughly Irish training, he sent him to Thomond 
 to be educated. For this he required the king's 
 permission. This permission was graciously granted 
 him, as a reward of his loyalty, though so genuine an 
 Irishman ; for the two things are not really incom- 
 patible. On a Patent Eoll of the 8th of December, 
 1388, and 12th Richard II., we find a license from the
 
 THE POET EARL. 59 
 
 king to Gerald Earl of Desmond, in the following 
 words : 
 
 ' The king having been credibly informed of the constant good 
 repute which Gerald Fitzmaurice, Earl of Desmond, held and sup- 
 ported, above all others of his part of Ireland, for fidelity to him 
 and his liege subjects in Munster, and on that account, and for the 
 better preserving the peace and the said liege people for the future, 
 being- willing to shew him favour, did, at his request, grant him 
 license to send his son, James,* to Conor O'Brien, of Thomond, an 
 Irishman, to be brought up or educated, and there to remain as 
 long as he should think fit, notwithstanding any statutes made to 
 thsTc'ontrary." 
 
 This royal confidence was fairly merited by the 
 poet. 
 
 " A.D. 1377. Gerald, Earl of Desmond, having come to the 
 city of Cork, at the command of the justices of Ireland, with a 
 great force of men, and having remained there for several days, at 
 hia own expense, was paid ten marks, to remunerate him for the 
 same, and as a compensation for his servant having been drowned 
 by accident, when riding over a piece of water, near the city, on a 
 horse belonging to the earl, of the value of two marks.'' 
 
 "A.D. 1381. O'Brien of Thomond, with an excessive force, 
 endeavoured to make a general conquest in the counties of Limerick, 
 Keriy and Cork; in consequence of which, and the Justice's being 
 unable to remain in Munster without inconvenience to the king, it 
 was agreed that Gerald Fitzmaurice, Earl of Desmond, should go 
 towards Limerick < to assuage their malice ; ' and 200 marks were 
 directed to be paid him for one quarter's salary, and commissions 
 of oyer and terminer were granted to him and Walter Coterell." 
 
 " A.D. 1386. The king appointed Gerald, Earl of Desmond, and 
 Robert Thame, Sheriffs of the county, deputies of Philip Courtenay, 
 the Lord Lieutenant, for the defence of Munster." 
 
 "A.D. 1391. Gerald, son of Maurice Earl of Desmond, and 
 Patrick Fox, were appointed overseers of the conservators of the 
 peace, and also conservators themselves, in the counties of Cork, 
 
 * James. This James was the poet's youngest son. He succeeded his nephew, 
 Thomas, the sixth earl, who -was displaced for marrying Cormac' daughter.
 
 60 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Limerick, and Kerry, with power to compel the sheriff, conservators 
 of the peace, and other the king's assessors, to muster the men at 
 arms, &c., and to marshal them into thousands, hundreds, and 
 twenties, and to lead them wherever there might be occasion, for 
 defence of the marches." 
 
 The condition of Cork and the surrounding country 
 at this time may be judged of from the following 
 address of the inhabitants to Lord Rutland : 
 
 " MAT IT PLEASE YOUK WISDOMS, to have pity on us, the 
 king's poor subjects within the county of Cork, or else we are cast 
 away for ever." 
 
 The address gives the former revenues of the lords, 
 knights, and gentlemen of the county : 
 
 " First, the Lord Marquis Caro ; his yearly revenue was, besides, 
 Dorzeyhaven, and other creeks, 2,200 sterling ; the lord Barne- 
 wale of Beerhaven ; his yearly revenue was, besides Bearehaven 
 and other creeks, 1,600 sterling: the lord Vggan of the great 
 castle ; his yearly revenue was, besides havens and creeks, 1.300 
 sterling ; the lord Balram of Emforte ; his yearly revenues, besides 
 havens and creeks, 1,300 sterling: the lord Courcy of Kilbrit- 
 tain ; his yearly revenue, besides havens and creeks, 1,500 
 sterling : the lord Mandeville of Barrenstelly ; his yearly revenue, 
 besides havens and creeks, 1,500 sterling : the lord Arundell of 
 the Strand ; his yearly revenue, besides havens and creeks, 1 ,500 
 sterling : the lord Baron of the Guard ; his yearly revenue, besides 
 havens and creeks, 1,100 sterling : the lord Sleynie of Baltimore ; 
 his yearly revenue, besides havens and creeks, 800 sterling : the 
 lord Roche of Poole castle ; his yearly revenue, besides havens and 
 creeks, 1,000 sterling. The king's majesty hath the lands of the 
 late young Barry, by forfeiture, the yearly revenue whereof, besides 
 two rivers and creeks, and all other casualties, is 1,800 sterling." 
 
 The address goes on to say, that the power of these 
 English lords was at one time equal to their property ; 
 that they had succeeded in hunting down the Irish, 
 and driving them, like a pack of hungry wolves, into
 
 STATE OF THE COUNTY. 61 
 
 a valley called Glanehought, between two great moun- 
 tains, where they fed on " white meat," rabbits, we 
 conclude, but now the whole country is subject to 
 them. 
 
 " Lord Roche, lord Oourcy, and the lord Barry only remain with 
 the least part of their ancestors' possessions, and young Barry is 
 there upon the king's portion, paying his grace never a penny rent ; 
 wherefore we, the king's poor subjects, of the city of Cork, Kinsale, 
 and Youghal, desire your lordships to send hither two good justices, 
 to see this matter ordered, and some English captains, with twenty 
 Englishmen, that may be captains over us all, and we will rise with 
 them to redress these enormities, all at our own costs ; and if you 
 do not, we be all cast away, and then farewell Munster for ever ; 
 and if you will not come nor send, we will send over to our liege 
 lord the king, and complain on you all." 
 
 Campion says the inhabitants of Cork 
 
 " Were forced to watch their gates continually, to keep them shut 
 at service times, at meals, from sunset to sun arising, nor suffer any 
 stranger to enter them with his weapon, but to leave the same at 
 a lodge appointed. They walked out at seasons for recreation 
 with strength of men furnished, they matched in wedlock among 
 themselves, so that well nigh the whole city was allied together." 
 
 Sir John, the fifth earl, succeeded his father, the 
 poet, in 1398, and was drowned at the ford of Ardfin- 
 nan, on the river Suir, the next year, 1399, while in 
 pursuit of the Butlers. 
 
 Of Thomas, the sixth earl, who died in 1520, we 
 have a sadly interesting tale. When hunting on the 
 banks of the Feal, near the town of Listowel, in Kerry, 
 he strayed from his companions, and lost his way, and 
 being benighted, took shelter in the house of Mac 
 Corinac, one of his dependants. Mac Cormac had a 
 fair daughter, Catherine,* with whom the young earl 
 
 * Catherine Ni William Mac Cormac : Cox.
 
 62 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 became suddenly enamoured. He wooed and WOD her 
 heart, and married her ; but his alliance with the hum- 
 ble maiden excited the brutal pride of his followers, 
 who regarded the indulgence of his honorable love as 
 an unpardonable offence ; they, therefore, deserted his 
 person and pennon, and selected his uncle, James, 
 as chief. He, with a broken heart, fled with his 
 beautiful bride to Eouen, in France, where he died. 
 It is to the honor of the heroic and chivalrous Henry 
 V., of England, who was then in France, that he 
 expressed his admiration of the young earl's character, 
 conduct, and choice, by attending as chief mourner at 
 his grave. Moore has immortalised the memory of the 
 banished earl, whom he represents as thus addressing 
 his followers : 
 
 You who call it dishonor 
 
 To bow to this flame 
 If you've eyes look but on her 
 
 And blush, while you blame. 
 Hath the pearl less whiteness, 
 
 Because of its birth ? 
 Hath the violet less brightness, 
 
 For growing near earth ? 
 
 James, the young man's uncle, and the poet's son, 
 who had been fostered by O'Brien, assumed the title 
 of the seventh earl, and was called the Usurper. This 
 is scarcely fair, inasmuch as the Irish not only 
 exercised the power of electing, but also of dethroning 
 their princes or chieftains. We learn from 0' Flaherty, 
 the author of Oyygia, that " any male relative," be he 
 " uncle, brother, or son, might succeed to the chief- 
 tainship." 
 
 11 It is to be imagined," says Hume, speaking of the 
 Saxon government, " that an independent people, so
 
 LAW OF SUCCESSION. 63 
 
 little restrained by law, and cultivated by science, 
 would not be very strict in maintaining a regular suc- 
 cession of their princes. Though they paid great 
 regard to the royal family, and ascribed to it an undis- 
 puted superiority, they either had no rule, or none that 
 was steadily observed, in filling the vacant throne ; and 
 present convenience, in that emergency, was more 
 attended to than general principles. V\ e are not, 
 however, to suppose, that the crown was considered as 
 altogether elective ; and that a regular plan was traced 
 byHhe constitution for supplying, by the suffrages of 
 the people, every vacancy made by the demise of the 
 first magistrate. If any king left a son of an age and 
 capacity fit for government, the young prince naturally 
 stepped into the throne : if he was a minor, his uncle, 
 or the next prince of the blood, was promoted to the 
 government." 
 
 Mr. Hallam argues, with his usual wisdom, for the 
 necessity of an elective monarchy among a semi- 
 civilised people : " In a state of civilisation so little 
 advanced as that of the Anglo-Saxons, and under cir- 
 cumstances of such incessant peril, the fortunes of a 
 nation were chiefly dependant upon the wisdom and 
 valor of its sovereigns." 
 
 This James, the Usurper, was in bad odour with the 
 Irish, which may be explained by the following notice 
 in the Annals of Ireland : 
 
 " A. D. 1414. The Earl of Desmond came to Ireland, bringing 
 with him many of the Saxons to devastate Munster. The Earl of 
 Ormond came to Ireland from the king of England." 
 
 These Norman knights must have gone to England 
 for succour. They found it difficult at this period to
 
 64 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 keep their own; if we may style it their own. " A great 
 defeat was given to the English at Meath, where the 
 Baron of Ikreen, together with a great number of 
 nobles and plebians, were slain ; and where the son of 
 the Baron of Ibane was taken prisoner, for whose ran- 
 som fourteen hundred marks were obtained." 
 
 Those great defeats induced the king to strengthen 
 the hands of the Anglo-Norman earls, by an importa- 
 tion of Saxons. He also sent over Sir John Stanley as 
 deputy. 
 
 " A.D. 1414. John Stanley, the Deputy of the king of England, 
 arrived in Ireland, a man who gave neither mercy nor protection to 
 clergy, laity, or men of science, but subjected as many of them as 
 he came upon to cold, hardship, and famine. It was he who plun- 
 dered Niall, the son of Hugh O'Higgin. The O'Higgins, with 
 Niall, then satirised John Stanley, who lived after this satire but 
 five weeks, for he died of the virulence of the lampoons." 
 
 This was the second poetical miracle performed by 
 this Niall O'Higgin, the first being the discomfiture of 
 the Clan Conway the night they plundered Niall at 
 Cladann. 
 
 Irish poets, or rhymers, possessed great power in 
 this way, from time immemorial. Once upon a time 
 the great and distinguished Seanchan, with his troop 
 of subordinate ollamhs, paid a visit to Guaire, king of 
 Connaught. The cross old man being displeased ^vith 
 the fare at court, refused the rations provided for him. 
 After a three days' fast, his wife persuaded him to try 
 an egg. By some neglect of the servants, the mice 
 had sucked it. The rhymer was so exasperated that 
 he vowed to satirise the mice, but, upon reflection, 
 determined to lampoon the cats.
 
 IRISH POETS. 65 
 
 Irish poets were fond of this sort of thing, but they 
 did not confine it to the cats ; they more frequently 
 satirised men, and very often great men. We read in 
 the Book of Bally mote (fol. 77, p. 2, col. b.) of a poet 
 named Athairne, of Binn-Edair, (now Howth) satiris- 
 ing the men of Leinster for having killed his only son. 
 " He continued for a full year to satirise the Leinster- 
 men, and bring fatalities upon them, so that neither 
 corn, grass, nor foliage grew for them that year." 
 
 There was an impression abroad at this time, that 
 poets could satirise people to death. The wife of Caier, 
 king of Connaught, conceived a criminal passion for 
 the poet Keidhe, and offered him a ball of silver ; but 
 he, like a second Joseph, rejected her advances, till 
 she offered him the kingdom. "How can that be, 
 seeing the king is living ?'' said Neidhe. " It will be 
 easy enough," replied 'the queen, "for you are a poet, 
 and can rhyme him to death, or bring a blemish on his 
 cheek. A man with blemish cannot enjoy the kingdom." 
 The poet went to work, and composed an aeir. The 
 king went to the well next morning, to wash his face, 
 and drawing his hand across his cheek felt three great 
 boils. 
 
 If Irish poets could satirise Irish kings and Irish 
 deputies after this fashion, we are not surprised to find 
 the English government making laws and regulations 
 against them. 
 
 " Item, that no yryshe mynstrels, rymours, shannaghes, ne 
 bardes, unchaghes, nor rnessonges, come to desire any goodes of any 
 man dwellinge within the Inglyshrie, uppon peyne of forfayture of 
 all theyr goodes and theyr bodyes to prison." State Papers, vol ii, 
 p. 215.
 
 66 HISTORY OF CORE. 
 
 We read in the Four Masters, under date 1576, of 
 Sir Henry Sidney, " suppressing the custom of keeping 
 poets and literary men." 
 
 But poets and satirists laugh at penal laws. The 
 famous Florence Mac Carthy, who knew this as well as 
 any man in Ireland, wrote a letter, (which is still pre- 
 served in the State Paper office,) in which he pretty 
 broadly recommends the government to employ the 
 poets, for he knew they were a class of men who 
 might bo tempted to direct their Greek fire against 
 each other, and their own chieftains. 
 
 *' The two sorts of people of the greatest abilty and 
 authority to persuade the Irish gentlemen, are the 
 priests and the rimers, The priests may not be trusted 
 to do service to the queen,* while of the rimers, only 
 some may, if employed by those gentlemen whose 
 followers they are by lineal descent." 
 
 Mac Carthy then goes on to say, (and we blush for 
 Florence's sake, to quote his words) that " I mean to 
 employ one of special trust and sufficiency '.'' It is 
 supposed that he here refers to the famous Irish poet, 
 Aenghus O'Daly, who wrote the fearful lampoon on 
 the poverty, meanness, and want of hospitality of Irish 
 chieftains, for which he paid the penalty of his life. 
 He was stabbed to the heart in the house of O'Meagher, 
 chief of Ikerrin, in the county of Limerick. 
 
 The terrific satire for which he met this fearful 
 death, is entitled the Tribes of Ireland. It has been 
 translated from the Irish, and annotated by Doctor 
 O'Donovan. We may have occasion to quote from it. 
 
 * Do service to the queen. Considering the kind of service required, this 
 must be viewed as a compliment to "the priests."
 
 C7 
 
 " There is certainly no family," writes Doctor 
 O'Donovan, " to which the bardic literature of Ireland 
 is more deeply indebted than that of O'Daly." They 
 are descended, according to 0' Flaherty, from the race 
 of Maine, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. We 
 discover from the Irish annals of 1213, that an ancestor 
 of Aenghus O'Daly, who was also a poet, the profes- 
 sion was hereditary in the family slew a churl 
 servant of O'Donnell, who insulted him. O'Donnell 
 pursued the poet and caused him to flee to Clanrickard, 
 to Richard De Burgo, for protection. Here he com- 
 posed a poem, in which he expresses the utmost 
 astonishment that anything so trifling as the murder 
 of a clown, should produce a difference between him 
 and O'Donnell. We give our own free translation 
 of one of the verses : 
 
 A trifling difference, you see, 
 Your shepherd Avas affronting me ; 
 I raised my axe, and killed the clown ; 
 God ! and can this cause a frown. 
 
 O'Dounell, who was foolish enough to take the thing 
 seriously perhaps he viewed it as a personal insult 
 obliged the poet to flee for his life to Scotland. But 
 there he composed a poem, which smoothed the raven- 
 down of darkness from the chieftain's brow : "O'Donnell 
 kind of hand. He obtained peace for his panegyric. 
 " O'Donnell received him into friendship, and gave him 
 lands and possessions as was pleasing to him." 
 
 Nearly two hundred years after this (in 1394), we 
 read of an O'Daly slaying " Teig O'Haughian, a 
 learned poet," in a squabble about " the Ollamhship of 
 O'Neill." A fruitful branch of this poetic and pugi-
 
 68 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 iistic family settled in Munster as early as the twelfth 
 century, and became Ard-Ollarnhs in poetry to the 
 Mac Carthys, kings of Desmond. One " Eaynall O'Daly, 
 Oliamh of Desmond in Poetry, died," as we have seen, 
 in 1161. From this man the O'Daly's of Muinter- 
 Bhaire, in the south-west of the county of Cork, are 
 descended. 
 
 Sir John Stanley, who was satirised to death, was 
 succeeded by Sir John Talbot,* called Lord Furnival. 
 He was styled the English Achilles, on account of his 
 bravery in the French wars, during the reign of Henry 
 Y. He landed at Dalkey, in September, 1414, and 
 remained in Ireland six years, preying and spoiling 
 like any Irish chieftain. t( He carried off great preys 
 of cows and horses, and cattle, and plundered Mic na- 
 ni-Breathnack (the sons of Welshmen), and hanged 
 Garrett, the son of Thomas Ceach, of the Geraldine 
 blood." He also plundered a great number of the 
 poets of Ireland. Talbot left Ireland, we are told, 
 " being runne much in debt for victuall and divers 
 others things, carrying along with him the curses of 
 many." He left his brother Eichard, Archbishop of 
 Dublin, as deputy in his stead. 
 
 The incidents recorded during the earlship of James 
 the Usurper, who reigned " nearly" half a century, 
 are very few. The following is to his credit 
 
 " Anno 1418. . The manors of Moyallow, [Mallow] Broghil, and 
 Kilcolman, were assigned to Maurice, the son of Thomas, the sixth 
 Earl of Desmond, by his uncle [granduncle] James, who usurped 
 the earldom." 
 
 * Sir John Talbot married the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Neville, by 
 Joan, the sole daughter and heiress of William, the last Lord Furnival.
 
 THE LAW OF TANISTRY. 69 
 
 This Maurice was the son of the banished earl, 
 who married Cormac's daughter. 
 
 There is an entry in the year, 1418, of the 
 deaths of Bishop O'Driscoll, his brother, Maocon 
 O'Driscoll, lord of Corca Largh, and Dermot Mac 
 Carthy, Tanist of Hy-Cairbre, or Carbery. 
 
 There were four branches of this distinguished 
 Irish family, namely the Mac Carthy More, principally 
 of Kerry, the Mac Carthys of Muskerry, the Mac 
 Carthys of Carbery,* and the Mac Carthys of Duhallow. 
 The Dermot Mac Carthy, whose decease is here 
 recorded was the Tanist of Carbery. We shall explain 
 the meaning of this term. 
 
 "We have already stated that the chieftain was elected 
 by the tribe. In the state of society which then 
 existed, the death of a chieftain, and their lives were 
 always in jeopardy, would have produced great con- 
 fusion, if not anticipated by the previous nomination 
 or election of his successor. The person so nominated 
 was called the Tanist.^ 
 
 " On choosing the prince, a successor was at the same time 
 appointed, who, in case of the decease of the former, should assume 
 the sovereignty. This person might be either the son, or brother, 
 or some other of the worthier descendants of the family, and was 
 styled the Tanist, a designation adopted from the ring finger, which, 
 as in length and position, it was next to the middle so the Tanist 
 was next to the prince in position and authority. And from this 
 circumstance, Davis and Ware derive the origin of the law of tanis- 
 
 * Mac Carthys of Carbery. This branch of the' family was originally seated 
 along the river Maigue, whence they were driven, by the Fitzgeralds, into Car- 
 bery, which had been originally in the possession of and ruled over by the 
 O'Donovans. We learn from the Annals of Innisfallen that Auliffe O'Donovau 
 was king of Hy-Cairbre in 1201. 
 
 f Tanist. Skinner thinks tanist comes from Thane; and Spencer, from 
 Tania, a province, as Aquitania, Lusitania, or Brittania, or from " Dania, that is 
 the Danes."
 
 70 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 try. Each of the remaining members of the family was styled 
 Righdamna, that is, the material of a king, or one who was capable 
 of being selected to exercise the functions f royalty." 0' Flaherty 1 8 
 Ogygia. 
 
 The following interesting passage is from Spenser's 
 View of the state of Ireland^ written before the end of 
 the sixteenth century : 
 
 " EUDOXUS What is this which you call Tanist and Tanistry ? 
 
 IRENETJS It is a custom amongst all the Irish, that presently 
 after the death of any of their chief lords or captains, they do 
 presently assemble themselves to a place generally appointed and 
 known unto them, to choose another in his stead, where they do 
 nominate and elect for the most part, not the eldest son, nor any of 
 the children of the lord deceased, but the next to him of blood, 
 that is, the eldest and worthiest ; as commonly the next brother 
 unto him, if he have any, or the next cousin, or so forth, as any is 
 elder in that kindred or sept ; and then next to him, do they choose 
 the next of the blood to be Tanist, who shall succeed him in the 
 said captainry, if he live thereunto. 
 
 EUDOX. Do they not use any ceremony in this election, for all 
 barbarous nations are commonly great observers of ceremonies and 
 superstitious rites ? 
 
 IREN. They used to place him, that shall be their captain, 
 upon a stone, always reserved for that purpose, and placed commonly 
 upon a hill, in some of which I have seen formed and engraven a 
 foot, which they say was the measure of their first captain's foot, 
 whereon, he standing, received an oath to preserve all the ancient 
 former customs of the country inviolable, and to deliver up the suc- 
 cession peaceably to his Tanist ; and then hath a wand delivered 
 unto him by some whose proper office that is, after which, descend- 
 ing from the stone, he turneth himself round, thrice forward, and 
 thrice backward. 
 
 ETJDOX. But how is the Tanist chosen ? 
 
 IBEN. They say he setteth but one foot upon the stone, and 
 receiveth the like oath that the captain did. 
 
 EUDOX. Have you ever heard what was the occasion and first 
 beginning of this custom ?
 
 MORTIMER, EARL OF MARCH. 71 
 
 I REN. I have heard that the beginning and cause of this 
 ordinance amongst the Irish was specially for the defence and 
 maintenance of their lands in their posterity, and for excluding all 
 innovation or alienation thereof unto strangers, and specially to the 
 English. For when their captain dieth, if the seigniorie should 
 descend to his child, and he perhaps an infant, another, peradven- 
 ture, would step in between, or thrust him out by strong hand, 
 being then unable to defend his right, or to withstand the force of 
 a foreigner ; and therefore they do appoint the eldest of the kin to 
 have the seigniorie, for that he commonly is a man of stronger 
 years, and better experience to maintain the inheritance and defend 
 the country, either against the next bordering lords, which used 
 commonly to encroach one upon another, as one is stronger ; or 
 against the English, which they think lie still in wait to wipe them 
 out of their lands and territories. And to this end, the Tanist is 
 always ready known if it should happen the captain suddenly to 
 die, or to be slain in battle, or to be out of the country, to defend 
 and keep it from all such doubts and dangers. For which cause the 
 Tanist hath also a share of the country allotted unto him, and cer- 
 tain cuttings and spendings upon all the inhabitants under the lord." 
 
 We read under date 1421, that one Cormac na 
 Coille Mac Carthy (or Cormac of the Wood), of Carbery, 
 was slain, by the sons of Owen Mac Carthy. 
 
 Sir John Talbot, or rather his brother, Eichard, 
 Archbishop of Dublin, who acted as his deputy, was 
 succeeded in 1425, by Mortimer, Earl of March, who 
 died of the plague the same year. His short sojourn 
 in Ireland, and death, are thus described by an Irish 
 chronicler : 
 
 "A.D. 1425. Mortimer, that is Earl of March, came to 
 Ireland this year, and many Saxons came along with him. This 
 earl had the guardianship of the King of England, and of the 
 greater part of France, and of all the English of Ireland : for the 
 King of England was left a child, and the Earl of March had his 
 guardianship and protection. Many of the chiefs of Ireland came 
 to the house of that earl, and returned with great satisfaction and
 
 72 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 honour. When they had completed their treaties with the earl, 
 they set out for their homes, but before they were outside Meath T 
 the earl died of the plague." 
 
 It was this same year that " Eory Eoe O'Higgins, 
 a learned poet, died." Was this a descendant of the 
 famous rhymer O'Higgins, that satirised Sir John 
 Stanley to death ? 
 
 "A great war broke out' 7 in 1430, between Mac 
 Carthy Eeagh, and James, the Earl of Desmond, called 
 the Usurper. The castle of Gill-Britain* was taken by 
 the earl from Mac Carthy Eeagh, and given to his 
 brother Donough, who united with Desmond in storming 
 it. The ruins of this old Irish fortalice are still in 
 existence. Beside them stands the modern residence 
 of Colonel Alcock Stawell. 
 
 Two years after this, in 1432, we have the arrival 
 of Sir Thomas Stanley, as new Lord Deputy. He was 
 the son of Sir John Stanley, who died of the lampoon. 
 
 In June, 1438, Eobert Fitz-Geoffry de Cogan made 
 a grant of all his lands in Ireland to this seventh Earl 
 of Desmond. Some time after this he obtained a ro3 7 al 
 patent for the government of the counties of Cork, 
 Waterford, Limerick, and Kerry. 
 
 Two years later, in 1440, we have James, the old 
 Earl of Desmond, in the field. 
 
 " A. D. 1440. O'Conor Fahy, his sons and brother, went upon a 
 predatory excursion into Leix, O'Moore's territory, and after having 
 sent the prey on before them, they were overtaken by the Earl of 
 Desmond, who defeated O'Conor, and killed his son Con, with sixty 
 of his soldiers." 
 
 * dill-Britain. Now Kilbrittan. It is described as " a fair town in the 
 barony of Carbery, and county of Cork."
 
 DEATH OF THE USUEPER. 73 
 
 The year 1442 was particularly fatal to the Mac 
 Carthys : 
 
 " A. D. 1442. Mac Carthy Reagh, lord of Isaragh, died. The 
 Abbot Mac Carthy died. Donell Glass^ Mac Carthy, lord of Hy- 
 Carbery, died." 
 
 Five years later, in 1447, Edmond, the son of 
 Mac Maurice, or Fitz-Maurice, of Kerry, was slain by 
 Cormac, the son of Owen Mac Carthy. 
 
 A. D. 1449 was a great year for Ireland. " The 
 Duke of York came to Ireland, with great glory and 
 pompe, and the commissioners of Ireland came to his 
 howse. And the Irish came to his howse, and verry 
 many beeves were given him for the mainteynance of 
 the king's kitchen." 
 
 There were also this year great wars in Desmond, 
 between Mac Carthy Eivagh and Thady Fitz-Cormac 
 Mac Carthy. And Diarmaid Mac Carthy More's son 
 was slain, and O'Sullivan More's son was taken pri- 
 soner, with Daniel Fitz Cormac Mac Carthy, et alii 
 multi'jicliles et ignobiles. 
 
 The last entry of importance in the reign of this old 
 Earl of Desmond records the death of two of his sons : 
 
 " A. D. 1452. Maurice, the Earle of Desmond's son, being 
 slaine on Vaithney, by Conner O'Maelrian, after the castle of 
 Uaithne was broken on Connor by the two earls. Maurice returning, 
 unknowne to his owne men, one of the pursuers wounded his horse, 
 and he fell down and was killed. John Cleragh, son to the said 
 earl, died." 
 
 The old earl, James, died about ten years after this, 
 considerably over eighty, and was succeeded by his 
 more distinguished grandson, who was beheaded at 
 Drogheda.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THOMAS OF DROGHEDA IRISH POETS AND POOR SCHOLARS. 
 A. D. 14621468. 
 
 THOMAS, the grandson of James, the Usurper, was the 
 Eighth Earl of Desmond. Dowling denies that "Thomas, 
 of Drogheda^ could be earl at all, his father, Garrett, 
 the son of old James, being alive. He refers to the 
 pedigree : " Vide pedegrew Desmonia quod non fuit 
 comes, pater turn nevebat et cetera." He says the 
 father predicted he would have " an ill end." 
 
 There may be something in what Dowling says, for 
 Garrett, the father of- Thomas, was made prisoner by 
 the Butlers, about the time old James the grandfather 
 died, and Thomas, as tanist, may have assumed the 
 earldom, and, as a consequence, have brought down 
 upon his head a malediction which was fearfully 
 verified. 
 
 The battle at which his father, Garrett, was made 
 prisoner, was one of the fiercest ever fought between 
 the Ormonds and the Desmonds. It may have laid 
 the foundation of that permanent animosity and jea- 
 lousy, which made Ireland too narrow for them both. 
 The battle was fought at Baile-na-phoill, or Pilltown, 
 near Carrick-on-Suir, in the county Kilkenny. 
 
 " A.D. 1462. The young Earle of Ormond, came to Ireland 
 in this yeare, with a multitude of Englishmen. Then great warr
 
 PSALTER OF CASHEL. 75 
 
 was raysed betwixt the Earles of Ormond,* and Desmond. Gerott, 
 son to the Earl of Desmond, was taken prisoner by the Butlers. 
 Portlargy, [Waterford] was taken by them, but afterwards, they 
 on both sides ordained to decide their variances by sett battle, and 
 soe they have done ; meeting each one, with an odious irefull 
 countenance; nevertheless, it was against the Earl of Ormond's will 
 Mac Richard went to fight that day, for Englishmen were accus- 
 tomed not to give battle on Munday, nor after noon any day ; but 
 Mac Richard respected not that their superstitious observation, but 
 went on, though he had the worst, he being defeated and taken 
 prisoner also, and after the account of them that knew it, there 
 was the number of four hundred and ten of his men buried, besides 
 all that was eaten by the doggs, and by foules of the aive." 
 
 The general on the Butlers' side is styled Mac 
 Richard. His name was Edmond Butler. He was 
 the son of Eichard, the son of James, the son of larla 
 Balbh, or the " Stammering Earl." This Mac Eichard 
 was in possession of a copy of the Psalter of Cashel, 
 which he was obliged to deliver up to Thomas, the 
 Earl of Desmond, for obtaining his liberty. This 
 was a high price for a book, if we estimate its value 
 by the amount paid in 1414, for the ransom of the 
 son of the Baron of Slane, namely, fourteen hundred 
 marks.-]* The Danes, who captured Mahon, Lord of 
 Bregia, in 1029, exacted for his ransom, twelve 
 hundred cows, seven score horses, three score ounces 
 of gold, sixty ounces of white silver, along with the 
 sword of Carlus, and other small etcetera. 
 
 That the Psalter of Cashel was accepted by Thomas, 
 Earl of Desmond, as the full price of the ransom of 
 
 * This Earl of Ormond was considered one of the most accomplished gentlemen 
 of his age. Edward IV. said, " If good breeding and liberal qualities were lost 
 in the world, they might he all found in the Earl of Ormond." He died in 1478, 
 on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. 
 
 t Marks. A mark was 13s. 4d, hut a shilling then was worth a pound now.
 
 76 HISTOBY OF CORK. 
 
 Edmond Mac Eichard Butler, appears from a fragment 
 of a copy of the Psalter, preserved in the Bodleian 
 Library at Oxford. In the margin of fol. 110, p. b. 
 is as follows : 
 
 " This was the psalter of Mac Richard Butler, until tlie defeat 
 of Baille-an-phoill was given to the Earl of Ormond and to Mac 
 Richard by the Earl of Desmond, (Thomas) when this book and 
 the Book of Carrick were obtained in the redemption of Mac 
 Richard, and it was this Mac Richard that had these books tran- 
 scribed for himself; and they remained in his possession until 
 Thomas, Earl of Desmond, wrested them from him. 
 
 In the genealogical work by Mac Firbis " a blessing 
 is pronounced" on the soul of the Archbishop of 
 Cashel, Eichard O'Hedigan, for it was ly Mm the owner 
 of this book was educated, Edmond, son of Richard* son 
 of James." It is then added, " Let all who read this 
 give a blessing on the soul of both." 
 
 "We conclude that the education of the principal 
 Irish families, both Norman and Celtic, was at this 
 time in the hands of churchmen, but there were regu- 
 larly endowed teachers, whose emoluments were by no 
 means contemptible. We discover from a tract on 
 brehon laws, in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, 
 H. 2, 16, and also in the Book of Ballymote, that the 
 wages of a teacher, or an ollamh in poetry or language, 
 were the same as those of an architect and builder, or 
 as he is styled " AN OLLAVB PROFESSOR OF TRADES," 
 who received as a reward for " the versatility of his 
 ingenuity, and for his perfect knowledge of dissimilar 
 arts," twenty-one cows, and " months refection to him" 
 
 Edmmtd, son of Richard. " Richard, the son of Edmond Mac Richard Butler, 
 was slain in the door- way of the church of St. Canice," the cathedral church of 
 Kilkenny, "by Fineen, one of the Ossorions," in 1478.
 
 AN OLLAMH'S WAGES. 77 
 
 " If he be an ollave professor of trades, who is entitled to twenty 
 cows as his pay, i.e. if he be an ollave who possesses the mastership 
 of trades, it is ordained that twenty-one cows be his pay. These 
 are twenty-one cows for the ollave of trades. And a month's 
 refection to him, that is, a month is his full allowance of food and 
 attendance ; for although of old the ollave tradesman was entitled 
 to more than this, in reward for the versatility of his ingenuity, or 
 for his perfect knowledge of dissimilar arts, still the author of this 
 law refused to allow him more than the ollave in poetry, or the 
 ollave in language, or the teacher." 
 
 We may judge of the style in which some of these 
 ollamhs lived, by the following notice : 
 
 "A.D. 1496. O'Duigennan of Kilronan, ollav of Muinter- 
 Mealrnain, a learned historian, who kept a house of general hospi- 
 tality, and the richest of the literati in Ireland in flocks and herds, 
 died in his own house at Kilronan, at a venerable age, after winning 
 the goal from the world and the devil." 
 
 The teacher or schoolmaster was abroad at an early 
 period in Ireland. Abroad in reality, for those who 
 adopted the profession were of an itinerant, or wander- 
 ing habit. In the cod. Clarend., tome 49, they are 
 called " Strollers." 
 
 "In the same year [1169] Rory 'Conor, King of Ireland, 
 granted ten cowes yearly, from him and every king after him, in 
 honor of Patrick, for learning to the strollers of Ireland and 
 England." 
 
 The Annals of Ireland say this endowment was to 
 the Rector of Ard-Macha, or Armagh, where these 
 strolling scholars may have received lectures, for there 
 was 'nothing low about a wandering life in these days. 
 The following is the extract of a letter from Gerald 
 Byrne to Sir John Perrott, dated 18th April, 1590, 
 in which we find the harper riding his hackney : 
 
 " When I saw the company of horsemen in my way, I made 
 toward them to see what they were, and there I found him and
 
 78 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 another horseman, well furnished with horse and armour, and a 
 harper riding upon a hackney with them ; and asking them from 
 whence they came, and whither they wolde, they said, that they 
 came from my howse, and wolde that night lie at Morgh Me 
 Edmund's howse, a neighbour of mine, whose daughter was married 
 to Feagh Me Hugh's son ; from thence they wolde go to Feagh 
 Me Hugh's howse." 
 
 This treatment of the ollamh in poetry, so late as the 
 end of the sixteenth century, reminds us of Sir Walter 
 Scott's beautiful lines, in the "Lay of the Last 
 Minstrel": 
 
 "No more on prancing palfrey berne, 
 He caroll'd light as lark at morn; 
 No longer courted and caressed, 
 High placed in hall, a welcome guest, 
 He poured to lord and lady gay 
 The unpremeditated lay. 
 Old times were changed, old manners gone, 
 A stranger filled the Stuarts' throne; 
 The bigots of the iron time 
 Had called his harmless art a crime; 
 A wandering harper, scorned and poor, 
 He begged his bread from door to door, 
 And tuned, to please a peasant's ear, 
 The harp a king had loved to hear." 
 
 Mr. T. W. Atkinson, in his " Travels in the Upper 
 and Lower Amoor," teaches us how the warlike passions 
 of a clan, or tribe, were excited or controlled by the 
 bard, or " shepherd poet." We find it difficult to 
 believe that the following sketch is a true picture of 
 life in the nineteenth century. 
 
 " Two Kirghis presently met me, and led me to their chief, 
 whom we found sitting at the door of his yourt, like a patriarch, 
 surrounded by his family, having in front his poet singing the great 
 deeds of his race. He rose to receive me, gave me a seat on his 
 own carpet, and then the bard continued his song. This family 
 group, the glowing sky, and the vast plain, with the thousands of
 
 HARPERS AND POOR SCHOLARS. 79 
 
 animals scattered over it, formed a charming picture. Homer was 
 never listened to with more attention than was this shepherd poet, 
 while singing the traditions of the ancestors of his tribe. Whatever 
 power the old Greek possessed over the minds of his audience, was 
 equalled by that of the bard before me. When he sung of the 
 mountain scenes around, the pastoral habits of the people, their 
 flocks and herds, the faces of his hearers were calm, and they sat 
 unmoved ; but when he began to recite the warlike deeds of their 
 race, their eyes flashed with delight ; as he proceeded, they were 
 worked up into a passion, and some grasped their battle-axes, and 
 sprang to their feet in a state of frenzy. Then followed a mournful 
 strain, telling of the death of a chief, when all excitement ceased, 
 and every one listened with deep attention. Such was the sway 
 this unlettered bard held over the minds of his wild comrades." 
 
 The following picture of an Irish school for "strollers" 
 is drawn from another point of view, and in a different 
 spirit. " They grovel upon conches of straw, with 
 their books to their noses ; themselves lie flat prostrate, 
 and so they chaunt out with a loud voice their lessons 
 piecemeal, being the most part lusty fellows of twenty- 
 five years and upwards." 
 
 This is not a very pretty picture, by Stanihurst, but 
 we conclude that these young men laydown in the 
 straw, with their books to their noses, for lack of forms 
 and desks, which are modern inventions. These 
 " lusty fellows" were the strollers," who, in course 
 of time, became hedge schoolmasters. 
 
 The " poor scholar" is not yet extinct. He goes 
 about the country with a few books in a satchel or 
 strap, and will accept a few pence for paper and pens. 
 I knew one of them, a few years ago, and tried to put 
 him through his moods and tenses, and found him to 
 be a very poor scholar indeed. 
 
 Thomas, the Eighth Earl of Desmond, was a distin-
 
 80 HISTORY OF CORK, 
 
 guished patron of literature, as we may imagine from 
 his accepting the Psalter of Cashel as a full ransom 
 for Mac Eichard Butler. 
 
 The College of Youghal was founded by him, in 
 1464. The Four Masters style him "the most illus- 
 trious of his tribe in Ireland, in his time, for his 
 comeliness and stature, for his hospitality and chivalry, 
 his charity and humanity to the poor, and the indigent 
 of the Lord." They praise him for his lt bounteous- 
 ness in bestowing juels and riches on the laity, and 
 clergy, and poets, and his suppression of theft, and 
 immorality.'' 
 
 He was a great favorite with Edward IY., Xing of 
 England, and stood in the relation of godfather to 
 George, Duke of Clarence. He went to England in 
 1464, and returned Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, which 
 high honor must have begotten no small jealousy in the 
 bosoms of the Butlers, and other Irish and English 
 lords ; but some repaired to his court in Dublin. 
 
 "A.D. 1464. Mac William Bourke and O'Donnell, and many 
 of the English and Irish, went to Dublin towards Thomas, Earle of 
 Desmond, Lord Deputye of Ireland, and adheared to him. Nine 
 of the Lord Deputye's men were slaine in Fingall, through the 
 instigation of the Bishop of Meath. The Deputy and Bishop afore- 
 said, and the Preston, went to their king's house, condemning each 
 other." 
 
 Some are of opinion that it was his close adhesion 
 to the Burkes, O'Donnells, O'Briens,* Kildares, and 
 other Irish lords, which lost him royal favor, and 
 finally his head ; but a more interesting, and perhaps 
 probable explanation is given of this tragic affair. 
 
 * O'Briens. The Earl of Desmond relinquished his claim on Clanwilliani, 
 in Tipperary, and any claims he possessed on the county of Limerick, to O'Brien, 
 in \'. "
 
 THE QUEEN'S REVENGE. 81 
 
 Leland and Cox say he lost his head for calling 
 Edward's queen (the beautiful Elizabeth Woodville) 
 " a tailor's wife." But his offence was of a more 
 serious character. Before leaving England the king 
 entreated him, in the privacy of friendship, to say 
 11 whether he saw aught amiss in his conduct, or in the 
 administration of the offices of his kingdom." The 
 earl assured him he knew of nothing but his unwise 
 marriage with the widow of Woodville, Lady Elizabeth, 
 whom the king had clandestinely espoused ; "Where- 
 fore^ I think," said the earl to his Majesty, " you 
 would do well in divorcing the present queen, and 
 forming a new alliance with some powerful princess." 
 This advice, which the king took in good part, after- 
 wards cost this earl Thomas his head ; for during some 
 bitter altercation with his queen, the king said to her : 
 " Had I hearkened to my cousin Desmond's advice, I 
 should have humbled thy proud spirit." 
 
 " What advice ? " said she. 
 
 "It matters not now," said he, but, pressed hard, 
 he told her all, for he deemed his friend Desmond, who 
 was then the Deputy of Ireland, safe from her hands. 
 But in the course of time, she obtained his removal, 
 and had Tiptoft, my Lord of Worcester a friend of 
 her own appointed in his place, who on his arrival, 
 arraigned the Earls of Desmond and Kildare, of 
 "alliance, fosterage, et alterage avecq les Irois ene- 
 mies du Roy comme en doniiant a eux chevaulx et 
 harneis et armors et supportaut eux envers les foilax 
 sujects du Roy." 
 
 They brought the order for beheading him to the 
 king, who refused to sign to it ; but the queen, who
 
 82 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 hated Desmond as bitterly as Herodias did John the 
 Baptist and with far better reason obtained the 
 signet by stealth, and placed it with her own fair hand 
 on the paper, and sent it to Worcester, who instantly 
 acted on it. He laid claim to some of the earl's 
 estates. When Edward IV. was made acquainted with 
 the treachery, he became so enraged with the queen, 
 that she had to leave the court, and fly to a place of 
 safety. Worcester was beheaded himself shortly after. 
 The doom of Tiptoft is thus described in the Four 
 Masters : 
 
 " A.D. 1470. The E irl of Warwick, and the Duke of Clarence, 
 cut into quarters the wreck of the maledictions of the men of Ireland, 
 namely, that Saxon Justiciary ; and it was in revenge of the death of 
 Thomas, Earl of Desmond, that this ignominious punishment was 
 inflicted on him, and the Earl of Kildare appointed in his stead." 
 
 "Much destruction," we are told, in the same 
 annals, " was caused by Garrett, the son of the Earl of 
 Desmond, in Munster and Leinster, in revenge of the 
 death of Thomas the Earl." The Earl of Ormond thus 
 describes the effect of the murder of this earl for we 
 can call it nothing else upon his followers: "They 
 have such a cankered malicious rebellion rooted in 
 them, evye sithens the putting to execution of 
 Thomas, Earle of Desmond, at Drogheda, that they 
 ben as far seperated from the knowledge of any duty 
 of allegiance that a subject oght to owe his prince, as 
 a Turk is to believe Christianity. Thei blaspheme the 
 king, and have their ears and eies open every day, 
 gaping to have assistance in this open rebellion out of 
 Spain." 
 
 The following anecdote of this earl is worthy of 
 record. It ocurred at Mogeely Castle, on the banks of
 
 IRISH HOSPITALITY. 83 
 
 the Bride. He had a steward as famous at expedients 
 as he of Ravenswood. The steward, without his 
 master's permission, gave an invitation to a number of 
 the chiefs of Munster, to spend a month at the castle. 
 The invitation was accepted with alacrity ; the Fitz- 
 geralds came in crowds, nor could the earl say them 
 nay, though the castle was not overstocked with pro- 
 visions. The servants informed him one day there 
 was nothing for dinner, that the Irish chieftains had 
 fairly eaten themselves out. Here was a predicament ! 
 The honor of his house and his character, for hospitality, 
 were at stake. He invites them to a hunt, commanding 
 the servants to set fire to the castle in his absence. 
 He looked on his return for the flames; could see 
 none, but met the steward, who told him to cheer 
 up, that he had been out and taken a prey of corn and 
 cattle, (probably from the lands of some of his guests) 
 which would sustain both his castle and credit for months. 
 Donald Eoe Mac Carthy, of Desmond, contended 
 with Maguire, prince of Desmond, in the beginning of 
 the fourteenth century, for the palm of hospitality. 
 A bard was engaged to spend a year at each of their 
 houses. He adjudged the prize to Maguire, declaring, 
 that although he possessed less territory, he exceeded 
 Mac Carthy in the number of his servants and retainers, 
 and the quantity of food consumed in his house. The 
 Desmond, or Mac Carthy's country, is thus bitterly 
 described by an Irish poet, who passed through it at 
 a much later period : 
 
 " But of all places, Desmond in truth takes the lead 
 In fasting. I pray God it may win its just meed. 
 If a pilgrim gain heaven for sandal and scallop, 
 Then Desmond, methiuks, should come in at a gallop."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 STATE OF SOCIETY LAMBERT SIMNEL AND PEBKIW 
 
 VVAEBECK CITY CHAETEES. 
 
 A.D. 14681497. 
 
 THE year after the death of the Anglo-Norman Earl 
 of Desmond the following entry occurs in our Irish 
 Annals : 
 
 "A.D. 1469. Mac Carthy More, lord of Desmond, 
 died." In 1471" The son of the Earl Thomas was 
 styled the earl, but was soon after taken prisoner by 
 the Mac Carthys." In 1472 " The young earl was 
 set at liberty by the Mac Carthys." 
 
 There were at this time four distinct chieftaincies of 
 the Mac Carthys ; the Mac Carthys More, or lords of 
 Desmond, and their off-shoots, namely, the Mac Car- 
 thys Reagh of Carbery, the Donough Mac Carthys of 
 Duhallow, and the Mac Carthys of Muskerry. The 
 Mac Carthys Eeagh, with Donnell Gud, as their chief, 
 branched off in 1185, during the lifetime of Donnell 
 More na-Curra, lord of Desmond ; the Duhallow Mac 
 Carthys, soon after, with Donough for their head, in the 
 lifetime of Cormac Fune, lord of Desmond ; and in the 
 fourteenth century, the Mac Carthys of Muskerry, with 
 Diarmaid More as their chieftain, during the lifetime 
 of Cormac Mac Donnell Oge, lord of Desmond. 
 The following entry refers to the Mac Carthys of 
 Muskerry :
 
 EILCREA ABBEY. 85 
 
 A.D. 1467. The Monastery of Cill-Credhe,* in the 
 diocese of Cork, was founded for Franciscan friars by 
 the Mac Carthys ; and they erected an honorable tombt 
 in it for the interment of their gentlemen and chief- 
 tains." 
 
 The Castle of Blarney, as well as Kilorea Abbey, 
 two of the finest structures of the kind of the period, 
 were both erected by Cormac Mac Carthy, surnamed 
 Laider , " the Strong." His strength seems to have 
 been displayed in works of patriotism, taste, and piety, 
 as-well as war. 
 
 Both Anglo-Norman and Irish chieftains seemed 
 about this time to be emulating each other in deeds of 
 blood and barbarous cruelty. James, Earl of Desmond, 
 is no sooner liberated, than he disables or maims his 
 uncle Garrett, probably by " cutting a joint. 5 ' Gar- 
 rett is slain, and eighteen of the Geraldines " put to 
 death" in 1477. 
 
 " A. D. 1477, Cormac, the son of Donough, son of 
 Mac Carthy Reagh, was taken prisoner by Cormac, son 
 of Teige, son of Cormac, son of Dermot Reamheer, of 
 Musketry, and by the sons of Dermot an-Duna, the 
 sons of his father's brother." 
 
 He was afterwards blinded. The Dublin -copy of the 
 Annals of Ulster say emasculated. We should not 
 have suspected Mac Carthy Laider, the founder of 
 Kilcrea, of countenancing such barbarous conduct. But 
 the times were barbarous. 
 
 * Cill-Credhe. Anglicised Kilcrea, the cell or church of St. Credh, a virgin, 
 who had a nunnery here at an early period. 
 
 f AM honorable tomb. The founder, Cormac Mac Carthy, surnamed Laider, or 
 " the Strong," was buried here in 1495. Charles Mac Dermot Mac Carthy, lord of 
 Muskerry (a Protestant), was interred here in 1616. The Barretts, and other 
 principal persons, were also interred here.
 
 85 HISTORY OF COKE. 
 
 This fearful and inhuman habit of blinding was 
 resorted to in Ireland to disqualify for kingship or 
 chieftainship. We read of Eoderick 0' Con or, the 
 " Last Monarch of Ireland," blinding his own brother, 
 Brian. But the practice was not confined to Ireland. 
 Shakspeare gives us a horrible example in his King 
 Lear, where Cornwall plucks out Gloster's eyes, and 
 tramples upon them. 
 
 GLO " If wolves had at thy gate howl'd that stern time, 
 Thou should'st have said ' Good porter turn the key.' 
 All cruel's else subscrib'd. But I shall see 
 The winged vengeance overtake such children. 
 
 CORN. See it I Thou shalt never. Fellows, hold the chair. 
 Upon these eyes of thine I'll set my foot." 
 
 We read, a few years after this, of Donough Oge 
 Mac Carthy, or young Donough Mac Carthy, lord of 
 Ealla, killing " Barry More John, the choicest of the 
 English youths in Ireland," on a Christmas-day. 
 
 In 1487, James, the Earl of Desmond, was treach- 
 erously slain by his own people, at Eathkeale, at the 
 instigation of John, his brother. The murderers were 
 banished by Maurice, the earl's son. 
 
 Next comes the murder of Mac Carthy Laider 
 himself : 
 
 " A. D. 1495. Cormae Mac Carthy, the son of Teige, son of 
 Cormac, lord of Muskerry, was slain by his own brother Owen, and 
 his (Owen's) sons. He was the exalter and reverer of the church, 
 the first founder of the Monastery of Cill Chreidhe, and a man who 
 had ordered that the sabbath should be strictly observed throughout 
 his territory. Owen, son of Teige, assumed his place." 
 
 Con, the son of Donnell, paid a visit to Mac Carthy's 
 country this year, and took a prey at the head of his
 
 A NORTHERN CHIEFTAIN. 87 
 
 " great little army." If Con be a fair specimen of a 
 Northern chieftain, the South was the more civilised 
 part of Ireland. Con never assembled more than 
 twelve score axe-men for a standing fight, and sixty 
 horsemen for following up the route. Hearing that 
 MacKeon of the Glins had the prettiest wife, the best 
 dog, and fastest steed in the country, he resolved to 
 visit him. He did so, but asked for the steed 
 only, for Con had a conscience. The churl, Mac 
 Keon, refused, so Con assembled a troop of horse, 
 an4 carried off the three, with all the property. The 
 story goes, that Con made full restitution to Mac 
 Keon's wife of all her property. Whether he ever 
 made restitution to the husband of his property in his 
 wife is not stated. He divided the spoil which he 
 took from the Mac Carthys and Mac Keons among the 
 men of Ulster. 
 
 If such raids, burnings, and taking of preys, did not 
 bring a curse in the shape of blighting or mildew, 
 they were well calculated to produce famine. 
 
 The Annals of Ireland for 1497, records a fearful 
 famine: 
 
 " A.D. 1497. A great intolerable famine throughout all Ireland 
 this year, the likeness of which the people of that time had never 
 seen, for there was scarce a corner or angle of all Ireland in which 
 many persons did not die of that famine. Throughout Meath 
 generally, a peck of wheat was purchased for five ounces, and a 
 gallon of ale for sixpence, and among the Gaels, a small beart of 
 oats, containing ten meaders, was purchased for an in-calf cow, and 
 a beef was sold for a mark, and a milch cow for two in-calf cows, 
 and a shilling more." 
 
 Henry VII., Duke of Eichmond, was proclaimed Kin<^ 
 of England, in 1485. We learn from the Annals of
 
 88 HISTOET OF CORK. 
 
 Ulster,* that the impression abroad throughout Ireland 
 at this time, was, that Henry, Duke of Eichmond, was 
 not the true heir to the throne ; that the real prince was 
 Lambert Simnel, the son of a tradesman at Oxford. 
 This young man was set up by Margaret, Duchess of 
 Burgandy, sister to Edward IV., as her brother, the 
 Duke of Clarence's son. 
 
 " A.D. 1485. The King of England, Richard, was slain in a 
 battle, in which fifteen hundred were slain, and the son of a 
 Welshman, [Henry VII. Duke of Richmond,] by whom the battle 
 was fought, was made king. But there lived not of the royal blood 
 at the time but one youth, who came the next year in exile to 
 Ireland. 
 
 The son of Clarence was likely to be received with 
 open arms in Ireland. It was Clarence that avenged 
 the murder of his godfather, Thomas of Drogheda, 
 Earl of Desmond, and procured Desmond's friend, 
 Garrett, Earl of Kildare, to be appointed Chief Justice, 
 in place of Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, by whom 
 D esmond was adjudged to death. We are not therefore 
 surprised to find Simnel, (the supposed son of Clarence), 
 received in Dublin, by the Earl of Kildare, who was 
 then Lord Deputy ; by the Chancellor, the Treasurer, 
 Lord Lovel, Lord Lincoln, and many other nobles 
 and chief men, lay and clerical. He was crowned 
 in Christ Church, and carried thence in triumph 
 to the castle of Dublin, on the shoulders of a gigantic 
 Irishman, named Darcy. It is said that the diadem 
 used on the occasion, was taken from the statue 
 of the Virgin, kept in a church near Damesgate. 
 
 As Henry VII. had the real son of the Duke of 
 
 * The Annals of Ulster were compiled, to a great extent, by Cathal Mac 
 llanus Maguire, who was Archdeacon oi' Clogher, in 1486.
 
 MUEDEE. OF BAEEY MORE. 89 
 
 Clarence under bolt and bar, in the Tower, he displayed 
 the magnanimity of pardoning Simnel, and making him 
 a turnspit in his kitchen. 
 
 " A.D. 1497. Great famine throughout all Ireland 
 this and the following year, so that the people ate of 
 food unbecoming to mention, and never before heard of as 
 having been introduced on human dishes" 
 
 These words have a ghoulish import. We learn 
 from Spenser, that the people fed on human flesh and 
 human carcases raked out of their graves, about a 
 century after this. 
 
 We have an account about this time, of a man raked 
 or dug out of his grave, but for another purpose: 
 
 "A.D. 1500. Barry More was slain by his own kinsman [or 
 brother] David Barry, Archdeacon of Cloyne and Ross. David 
 was slain by Thomas Barry and Muinter O'Callaghan. The Earl 
 of Desmond disinterred the body of David in twenty days, and 
 afterwards burned it. 
 
 The Dublin copy of the Annals of Ulster say the 
 Earl of Desmond made " meal and ashes" of the fra- 
 tricide's bones. The Thomas Barry who united with 
 O'Callaghan in revenging the death of Barry More, 
 by slaying the Archdeacon, seems to have been engaged 
 in the Simnel rebellion, and was obliged to take a new 
 oath of allegiance. 
 
 Sir Richard Edgecomb, who had been employed to 
 receive the oaths and allegiance of the Irish lords who 
 had espoused the pretensions of Lambert Simnel, 
 arrived in the harbour of Kinsale on the 27th June, 
 1488. He had five ships and five hundred men. He, 
 notwithstanding, refused, at first, to land, but compelled 
 Lord Thomas Barry, or Barry Oge, to attend him on
 
 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 board ship, and there renew his oath of allegiance, and 
 do homage for his barony. Sir Eichard was prevailed 
 on the next day to land and enter the town, where he 
 was met by the Lord de Courcy and others, who did 
 homage in the church of St. Mnltosius. 
 
 The Earl of Desmond, who had the body of David 
 Barry disinterred, was Maurice, the tenth earl. This 
 Maurice united with the famous Perkin Warbeck, who 
 assumed to be the Duke of York, or second son of 
 Edward IV., who is generally believed to have been 
 murdered with his elder brother, in the Tower of 
 London, at the command of Richard III. 
 
 Perkin Warbeck arrived in Cork from Lisbon in 
 1492, where he was kindly received by the citizens, 
 and "caressed," as Doctor Smith says, by John 
 Walters, an eminent merchant, who was Mayor in 
 1490 and 1492. Perkin Warbeck wrote to Garrett, 
 Earl of Kildare, at this time Lord Deputy, and to the 
 Earl of Desmond, informing them of his arrival ; but 
 before he got their replies, he had received a letter 
 from the French king, inviting him to visit France, 
 for which he set sail, and was " royally entertained," 
 till such time as a treaty of peace was concluded 
 between France and England, when he received inti- 
 mation that his presence could be dispensed with. He 
 went from France to Flanders, to visit his supposed 
 aunt, the Duchess of Burgundy, where he remained 
 for three years. He set sail from Flanders in 1495, 
 with six hundred men, and made a landing on the 
 coast of Kent, where a hundred and sixty of his fol- 
 lowers were made prisoners, and afterwards hanged. 
 
 Not liking this sort of treatment, he resolved to try
 
 PERKIN WAEBECK. {J1 
 
 Cork a second time, where he met much kindness, but 
 little aid ; so he determined to try Scotland. Here he 
 married a daughter of the Earl of Huntley, and per- 
 suaded the Scots to invade England; but a " treacherous 
 peace" having been concluded between the two coun- 
 tries, he resolved, for the third time, to visit his Irish 
 friends. 
 
 He arrived in Cork in July, 1497, and was joined by 
 the Earl of Desmond and the Duke of Lincoln in the 
 siege of Waterford. The account of this siege is thus 
 recorded in Doctor Ryland's History of Walerford: 
 
 "In the year 1497, it was again the good fortune of 
 the citizens of Waterford to manifest their loyalty to the 
 king ; for which, among other honours, they received 
 the following motto l Intacta manet Waterfordia.' 
 On this occasion they communicated to his majerty the 
 intelligence of the arrival of Perkin Warbeck at Cork, 
 and assured him of their loyalty and affection. 
 
 u An opportunity was now afforded them to prove 
 the sincerity of their professions, and the extent of 
 their devotion, for immediately on his landing, the 
 whole strength of the rebel force was directed against 
 Waterford, Perkin Warbeck, and Maurice, Earl of 
 Desmond, with an army of 2,400 men, advanced to the 
 city, and on the 23rd of July prepared to invest it. 
 This force was intended to assault the western division, 
 while a fleet of eleven ships, which arrived at Passage, 
 was ordered to engage from the river ; there was also a 
 body of troops landed from the fleet, who were to 
 proceed in the direction of Lumbard's Marsh, and 
 co-operate with the land forces. 
 
 " To prevent the junction of these two divisions, the
 
 92 HISTOET OF CORK. 
 
 ponds of Kilbarry were kept full, the besieged having 
 raised a large mound of earth to stop the course of the 
 river, which flows from Kilbarry into the Suir. The 
 necessary preparations being completed, the siege was 
 vigorously commenced and carried on, for eleven days, 
 with great zeal and activity. In the many skirmishes 
 and sorties which took place, the citizens were gene- 
 rally victorious, and routed or captured their opponents. 
 In the field, the citizens covered themselves with glory ; 
 but it is to be regretted that after the fight their 
 valiant hearts had no touch of pity. On one occasion, 
 'after a successful sortie, in which they committed 
 great slaughter, they returned to the city with a nu- 
 merous band of prisoners ; they carried them to the 
 market place, chopped off their heads, and fastened 
 them on stakes, as trophies of their victory. Their 
 valour and the dread of their cruelty could no longer 
 be resisted, the besieged became the assailants; the 
 enemy were repulsed in every direction, and what 
 served to ensure the victory of the citizens, the cannon 
 planted on Reginald's Tower, after many days' hard 
 firing, beat in the side of one of the ships, when the 
 entire crew perished. 
 
 "The enemy, disheartened by all these untoward 
 occurrences, and fearing to await the vengeance of the 
 enraged citizens, raised the siege, and on the night of 
 the 3rd of August, retreated to Ballycasheen, from 
 thence they proceeded to Passage, where Perkin 
 Warbeck embarked, and fled to Cork. The citizens 
 pursued him, with four ships, and, after an eager 
 chase, followed him to Cornwall, where he landed. 
 W hen this intelligence reached the king, who was then
 
 PERKIN WARBECK. 93 
 
 at Exeter, he ordered the pursuit to be continued, and 
 Perkin was at length apprehended. 
 
 ' ' The loyalty and courage of the citizens of Waterford 
 were duly appreciated by the monarch, who, in addition 
 to other marks of favor, was pleased to honor them 
 with two letters." 
 
 Doctor Ryland does not inform us, that after the 
 siege of Waterford, Perkin visited Cork, where the 
 Earl of Desmond raised a hundred and twenty men, 
 and procured vessels to enable him to make a descent 
 upen Cornwall. Here he was well received, and joined 
 by thousands. He assumed the title of Kichard IV., 
 and laid siege to the city of Exeter, which shut its 
 gates against him. He was compelled, on the approach 
 of the king's troops, to raise the siege, and flee from 
 the royal ire to the sanctuary of Beaulieu. After a 
 time he surrendered himself, and was imprisoned in 
 the tower, with the young Earl of Warwick. Perkin 
 escaped from the tower, was retaken, and hanged. 
 
 We omit the " two letters," as we are not writing 
 the history of Waterford, although they are very 
 complimentary. Henry, like a wise monarch, reserved 
 his more substantial favors for his enemies. The Earl 
 of Desmond, who provided both men and arms for 
 the siege, was not only pardoned, but received " a grant 
 of the customs of Limerick, and other the king's heri- 
 ditaments in the ports, city, and towns of Cork, Kinsale, 
 Baltimore and Youghal." 
 
 David, Archbishop of Cashel, and the Bishops of 
 Cork and Waterford, were also compromised in this 
 foolish rebellion, but were pardoned, " the better to 
 quell the contrivances and designs of Perkins' friends."
 
 94 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 John Walters, Mayor of Cork, was treated somewhat 
 differently. He was tried at Westminster, by a jury 
 of twelve men, found guilty of high treason, and hanged 
 at Tyburn, in November, 1499, with his friend and 
 protege, Master Perkin Warbeck. Their heads were 
 afterwards set up on London bridge. Philip Walters, 
 the Mayor's son, who was implicated, received the 
 royal pardon, though Lord Bacon says he was executed 
 with his father. 
 
 We learn from Campion, who wrote his Historic of 
 Irelande, in 1570, that Perkin Warbeck made the 
 following declaration before his execution : 
 
 " I, being born in Flanders, in the town of Tournay, put myself 
 in service with a Breton called Pregaut Meno, who brought me 
 with him into Ireland, and when we there arrived, in the town of 
 Cork, they of the town, because I was arrayed with some clothes of 
 silk of my said master, threaped upon me that I should be che Duke 
 of Clarence his son, that was before-time at Dublin ; and forasmuch 
 as I denied it, there was brought unto me the Holy Evangelists, 
 and the cross, by the mayor of the town, called John Lavallin,* 
 and there I took my oath that I was not the said duke's son, nor 
 none of his blood. After this there came unto me an Englishman, 
 whose name was Stephen Poyton, with one John Walter, and swore 
 to me that they knew well that I was King Richard's bastard son ; 
 to whom I answered, with like oaths, that I was not : then they 
 advised me not to be afraid, but that I should take it upon me 
 boldly ; and if I would so do, they would assist me with all their 
 power, against the king of England, and not only they, but they 
 were assured that the Earls of Desmond and Kildare should do the 
 same; for they cared not what part they took so they might 
 be avenged on the king of England ; so against my will, they 
 made me to learn English, and taught me what I should do and 
 say ; after this, they called me Richard, Duke of York, second son 
 
 * The Mayor of the town, called John Lavallin. He was mayor in 1492, 1496, 
 and 1498. There was a Richard Lavallin, mayor in 1455, very likely John's 
 father.
 
 CORK CHARTERS. 95 
 
 to King Edward IV., because King Richard's bastard son was in 
 the hands of the king of England ; upon this they entered upon the 
 false quarrel, and within short time after, the French king sent 
 embassadors into England, viz., Lyot, Lucas, and Stephen Frayne ; 
 and so I went into France, thence to Flanders, thence into Ireland, 
 from thence into Scotland, from whence I passed into England, 
 thence back into Ireland, and so into England again." 
 
 The city of Cork lost its charter for the part it took 
 in this rebellion, but it got a new and better one, the 
 charter of Inspezimus, which gave enlarged privileges 
 to the corporation. Cork got its first charter while 
 J ohn was deputy, in the reign of Henry II. It runs 
 thus: 
 
 " I have granted and given, and by this my charter confirm, to 
 the citizens of Cork, all the fields held of my city of Cork, and the 
 ground on which the city is, now for my benefit to increase the 
 strength of the citizens. This is to them and their heirs, to hold 
 of me, and my heirs, and to remain in frank burgage, by such 
 custom and rent as the burgesses of Bristol, in England, pay 
 \early lor their burgages, and to secure my city of Cork, 1 grant 
 this to the same my citizens of Cork, all the laws, franchises, and 
 customs or freight which are in Bristol, on whatsoever sails. And 
 firmly commanding that the aforesaid, my citizens of Cork, and 
 their heirs, and their successors have the aforesaid city of Cork, 
 of me and my successors, as is aforesaid, and have all the laws and 
 franchises, and frank customs of Bristol, and as those were wont to 
 be used and written in my court, and in my hundred of Cork, and 
 in all business." 
 
 We discover from the terms '' in my Hundred of 
 Cork," that the court of D } Oyer Hundred was in 
 existence at this early period. U* Cyer is an old French 
 word, signifying " to hear." This corporation court 
 of a hundred hearers has become a court of about 
 half this number of speakers. 
 
 This charter of Henry II, is lost, but a copy of it
 
 96 HISTORY OF COSE. 
 
 is preserved among the Harleian MSS. in the British 
 Museum. 
 
 The earliest existing Cork or corporation charter is 
 that of Henry III. This charter granted to the citi- 
 zens, or rather let to them, for eighty marks annually, 
 an exemption from toll and all other customs throughout 
 his majesty's dominions, with prisage of wine, custom 
 and cocket,* within the jurisdiction of the port. 
 
 Edward I. granted two charters, in the nineteenth 
 and thirty-first years of his reign. The last enacted that 
 murage^ should be collected by the bailiffs of the city, 
 for six years. We conclude from this that the city 
 walls were in a dilapidated state. 
 
 In the charter of the llth of Edward II., the office 
 of Mayor is, for the first time named. The next year, 
 there was an enactment passed which abolished the 
 necessity of the elected Mayor's going to Dublin, to be 
 sworn in before the Barons of the Exchequer, his pre- 
 decessor in office being authorised to receive the 
 necessary oaths. 
 
 Charters were granted in the 4th and 5th of Edward 
 III., in the 5th of Richard II., and in the 2nd of 
 Edward IY. This last, after reciting that the Mayor 
 and commonality had eleven parish churches within 
 the city, which extended, with the suburbs, a mile in 
 every direction, and which had been, for fifty years 
 preceding, destroyed by Irish enemies and English 
 rebels, remits all arrears, and grants them the cocket 
 of the city for the construction of the walls, till such 
 
 * Cocket was a seal belonging to the king's customs. To grant cocket meant 
 to forego customs. 
 
 f Murage Money paid to keep the city walls in repair.
 
 CORK CHARTERS. 97 
 
 time a=? they should be able to travel peaceably one mile 
 beyond them. This looked like granting cocket, or 
 foregoing customs, in secula seculorum. It was a 
 hundred and forty years after this that Sir Warham 
 St. Leger was killed within a mile of Cork, 
 
 We learn from a curious letter written by u John 
 Deythyke, Prest," that Dublin, in 1533, was even 
 worse than Cork at this time : 
 
 " Your mainstership knoweth their accostotned ceremonie is to 
 refrain from flesh on Wednesday ; but now they be much more full 
 of devotion, for they not only abstain on Wednesday, but also 
 Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I trust to Jesus, yc may 
 have many saintes amonge them. But they play the foxe's parte 
 when he could not reach the hens. All the butchers iu Dublin 
 have not as much beefe to sell as would make one mess of browse. 
 The cause whereof is, they are nyghtltj robbyd. There has been 
 Jive or six prayes taken out of Saynt Thomas' [ parish~\ within this 
 ten dayse. Another cause is the country is so quiett, they dare not 
 ryde one myle out of town to buy any maner of vyttles. See State 
 Papers, vol. ii, p, 180. 
 
 In the 15th of Edward IV., all former charters were 
 confirmed, and the Mayor and citizens enjoyed their 
 franchises within both city and suburbs, and through 
 the entire port. Vide p. 22. 
 
 It then releases, during pleasure, all arrears of the 
 rent of eighty marks, and grants that the corporation, 
 iu lieu thereof, shall in future, render at the exchequer, 
 twenty pounds of wax.* 
 
 Henry VIIL, in the first year of his reign, granted 
 a u Confirmatory Charter" and in the twenty-eighth, a 
 charter, which conferred on the Mayor "one decent 
 
 * Wax, The breath from our mountains are to the present day as fragrant of 
 wild honey, as the heights of Hymettus. We have purchased the best maiden 
 honey in tlie county for twopence and threepence a pound.
 
 98 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 sword sheathed," and upon the sword-bearer a remark- 
 able cap.* 
 
 " We grant and give license to our well-beloved subject, William 
 Coppinger, now mayor of our said city, and his successors, mayors 
 of Cork, that he, as long as he shall continue mayor within said 
 city, may and can have borne and carried before said mayor, and 
 all other mayors for the time being, within said city and liberties 
 thereof, one decent sword, sheathed, and our will is that the sword 
 bearer be adorned with a remarkable cap, when they think fit, for 
 the cause aforesaid." 
 
 It is not perfectly clear, from the wording, whether 
 this " remarkable cap " is to be mounted when the 
 mayors or the sword-bearers " think fit''' 
 
 By a charter of the 18th of Elizabeth, the Mayor, 
 the Eecorder, and the four senior Aldermen who had 
 filled the office of mayor, were constituted justices of 
 the peace, both of land and water. 
 
 The charter of 6th of James I. released the corpora- 
 tion from the impost of twenty pounds of wax. By 
 this charter, the city and surrounding district, marked 
 out by commissioners, became a distinct county, called 
 the county of the city of Cork, over which the power 
 of the justices of the peace for the city extended. 
 
 Remarkable Cap. Waterford also had its remarkable cap. " And now at 
 this time, as a remembrance and evident token of our favours, we have sent you 
 by the bearer, a Cap of Maintenance, to be borne at all times thought fit for you, 
 and necessary before you, our mayor, being our officer, of that our said citie, 
 and our successors, officers of the same." Hi/land's Waterford, p. 40.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE NORMANS THE COMMONERS THE ARMY THE CHURCH. 
 
 A.D. 15151535. 
 
 WHEN Henry VIII. ascended the English throne, the 
 Irish Norman knights and their followers had become 
 as rebellious, and every whit as Irish as the Irish 
 themselves. The Norman invasion produced no really 
 social or permanently political revolution in the 
 country. The conquerors became in their turn con- 
 quered, absorbed in the mass of the people, and 
 leavened by their laws, religion, manners, and customs. 
 The English knights intermingled their blood with that 
 of Irish families, and became no more nor less than 
 Irish chieftains, with English names ; Irish in heart 
 and soul ; Irish from their beaver to their brogue : 
 
 " Those Geraldines, those Geraldines, not long our air they breathed, 
 Wot long they fed on venison, in Irish water seethed ; 
 Not often had their children been by Irish mothers nursed, 
 When from their full and genial hearts, an Irish feeling burst. 
 The English monarch strove in vain, by law, and force, and bribe, 
 To win from Irish thoughts and ways, this more than Irish tribe ; 
 For still they clung to fosterage, to brehon, cloak, and bard ; 
 What king dare say to Geraldine, your Irish wife discard ?" 
 
 In a state paper, which the poet Spenser must have 
 seen before he wrote his " View of the State of Ireland," 
 we read : 
 
 " Ther is more then 30 greate captaines of the Eng- 
 lyshe noble folke, that folowy th the same Iryshe ordre,
 
 100 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 and kepeith the same rule, and every of them makeith 
 warre and pease for hymself, without any lycense of 
 the king, or of any other temperall person, saive to hym 
 that is strongeyst, and of suche that may subdue them 
 by the sword. Ther names folowyth immedyat : 
 
 " The Erlle of Desmounde, lorde of the countye of 
 Kerye ; the Knight of the countye of Kerye ; Fytz- 
 mawryshe, of the countye of Kerye ; Syr Thomas of 
 Desmounde, knyght ; Syr John of Desmounde, knyght ; 
 Syr Gerald of Desmounde, knight ; the Lorde Barrye ; 
 the Lorde Roache ; the younge Lorde Barrye ; the Lorde 
 Courcye ; the Lorde Cogan ; the Lorde Bareth ; the 
 Whyt Knyght ; the Knyght of the Wall* ; Syr Geralde 
 of Desmoundi's sonnes, of the countye Waterford ; the 
 Powers, of the countye of Waterford ; Syr William 
 Bourke, knight, of the countye Lymryk; Syr Pyers 
 Butler, knight, and all the eaptaines of the Butlers of 
 the countye of Kylkennye, and of the countye of 
 Fyddert" 
 
 Then follow the names of the " countyes that obey 
 not the kinge's lawes, and have neyther justice, neyther 
 shyryifs, under the king." 
 
 " The countye of Waterfford ; the countye of Corke ; 
 the countye of Kylkenny ; the countye of Lymbryk ; 
 the countye of Kerye ; the countye of Conaught ; the 
 countye of Wolster ; the countye of Charlagh ; half 
 the countye of Uryll ; half the countye of Meath ; half 
 the countye of Dublyn ; half the countye of Kyldare ; 
 half the countye of Wexford. All the Englyshe folke 
 of the said countrys ben of Iryshe habyt, of Iryshe 
 
 * Knight of the Wall, or valley, pronounced wallty, for the Normaiis preserved 
 their pronunciation intact. By the Knight of the Walley, or valley, we under- 
 stand the Knight of Glin.
 
 IRISH GALLOGLASSES. 101 
 
 langage, and of Iryshe condytions, except the cyties 
 and the walled townes." 
 
 We find the very Lord Deputies themselves riding 
 forth at the head of wild troops of Irish kerne and 
 galloglasses, making raids, taking preys, and insisting 
 on black mail, or that ** damn'd impost of coyne and 
 lyverye." 
 
 "Some say the kinge's Deputye is the cause, that 
 all the said common people, be so poor, so feeble, and 
 soo Iryshe ; for where sometimes, in our days, the 
 kiixge's Deputye used always have about him, where- 
 ever he did ride, a strong guard on horseback, of 
 spears and bows, well garnished after the Englyshe 
 manner, that paid truly for ther meate and drynke, 
 wherever they did ride, now the guard of the kinge's 
 Deputy is none other, but a multitude of Iryshe gallow- 
 glasses, and a multitude of Iryshe kerne and speres, 
 with an infinite number of horse-lads, and with the 
 paid guard, the kinge's Deputye is ever moving arid 
 stirring from one place to another, and with extortion 
 of coyne and lyverye, consumeth and devoureth ail 
 the substance of the poor folk, and of the common 
 people of all the kinge's subjects." 
 
 u The Irish in the middle ages," writes Dr. Smith, 
 " employed two sorts of foot soldiers ; one called gallo- 
 glasses, armed with an iron head-piece, and a coat of 
 defence stuck with iron nails, wearing a long sword 
 by their sides, and bearing in one hand a broad axe, 
 with a very sharp edge, after the manner of those 
 ancient Gauls mentioned by Marcellinus. This kind 
 of foot were thus armed by the Irish in imitation of 
 what they saw used by the English, as appears from
 
 102 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 the name gallo-glass, from Gallo-glagh, i.e. an English 
 servant." 
 
 Stanihurst says, the galloglasses were " grim of 
 countenance, tall of stature, big of limb, burly of 
 body, well and strongly timbered ; feeding on beef, 
 pork, and butter." The same writer describes the 
 food of the people as consisting of " watercresses, 
 which they term shamrocks, roots, and other herbs ; 
 oatmeal and butter they cram together. They drink 
 whey milk and beef broth ; flesh they devour without 
 bread, and that half raw, the rest boileth in their 
 stomach with aqua vita?, which they swill in after such 
 a surfeit by quarts and pottles. They let their cows 7 
 blood, which grown to a jelly, they bake and over- 
 spread with butter, and so eat in lumps. No meat 
 they fancy so much as pork, and the fatter the 
 better." 
 
 " The Jcerne, the light armed foot, signifieth shower 
 of hell, because they are taken for no better than rake- 
 hells, or the deviVs blackguards" We may conclude 
 from this description, that the kerne was a sort of 
 Irish Zouave. Spenser describes them as " very valiant 
 and hardy, great endurers of cold, labor, and hunger, 
 very active and strong of hand, very swift of foot, very 
 vigilant and circumspect in their enterprises, very 
 present in perils, and very great scorners of death." 
 
 Dr. Smith's description is more classical. " Kernes 
 were, among the Irish, light arm'd foot, perditis Levis 
 Armature, called by Henry of Marlborough, Turbiculi, 
 and by others Turbarii. But their common names 
 were kernes, from the Irish keathern, which signifies 
 a company of soldiers. They wore head pieces, fought
 
 IRISH KERNE. 103 
 
 with darts and javelines, to which a thong was fastened. 
 They had also swords, knives or skeynes." 
 
 The Irish kernes were often employed as mercenary 
 troops, by English monarchs. They generally fought 
 well, even out of Ireland, when led by their native 
 chieftains or captains, who let themselves and their 
 men out to hire. We find among the State Papers 
 (No. 437) a curious letter from O'Eeilly, to King Henry 
 VIII., who brings his majesty in debtor in the sum of 
 about six hundred pounds, for the service of a hundred 
 men in England, but O'Eeilly is willing to take lt the 
 little farm that Prior Ford had " as a set off against 
 this demand. 
 
 "JESUS ! 
 "To THE RIGHT HONORABLE AND His VERY GOOD KING 
 
 HARRY, KING OP HIGLAND, FRANSE AND HIRLAND. 
 
 " Right Honorable Noble King Harry. After my most bounden 
 dutie premised, may it please your noble grace, the cause of my 
 writing at this time, is to beseech your majesty to be so good to 
 your pore servant as to consider the great coste I was at for the 
 100 men that I shent [sent] to your grace into Hyngland. I 
 certify your grace that my 100 men coste me about 600 for going 
 and coming, and there are 8 vyke * [8 weeks] of their wages 
 unpaid yet, because they were so long at Shester, [Chester] and 
 Hollyhead, the wind being contrary. Now I desire your noble 
 grace for tnat same costes, and for the service I du your grace and 
 your deputy in Hirland every day, to &hend me a lytell ferym, 
 within my own land, to have for myself, and my son after me, that 
 every man may know I have your grace's wages in Ireland.'" 
 
 He goes on to mention a farm that the Prior Ford 
 had, for <18 a year. Whether the prior had been 
 
 * "8 Vike" :-We suspect O'Reilly got a Welshman to write this leUer. 
 We have cut it down, and improved the spelling.
 
 104 HISTOEY OF CORK. 
 
 dispossessed or not, we cannot say, but O'Reilly puts 
 in a good word for him in the end. 
 
 " Also I desire your grace to be so good that same pore chaplain,* 
 for God's sake, and for the service sake that he has done your 
 grace. I testify your grace, that that pore chaplyn was taken into 
 Scotland, and that he paid 8 nobyll for his ransom, and I know 
 there are many men in Hirland that have 2s. and 3s. a day, that 
 will not do more service to your grace than he has done. For God 
 sake, and for me, let him have some living in Ireland. Finally, 
 God save the King ! 
 
 Your obedient tryu servant, 
 
 TIIY LOKD O'REILLT." 
 
 "We read among the minutes of council in this 
 monarch's reign of "William Keating, who hath been 
 capitain of the kern, to have lands of 10 Irish by the 
 year, to him during his life, and after him to such, for 
 the time till that matter of the kern be reformed, shall 
 have the office." State Papers, vol. iii. p. 584, 
 
 Spenser speaks in the following terms of the Irish 
 horse soldier, or dragoon. " 1 have heard some great 
 warriors say, that in all the service they have seen 
 abroad in foreign countries, they never saw a more 
 comely man than the Irishman, nor that cometh on 
 more bravely in his charge, neither is his manner of 
 mounting unseemly, though he lack stirrups, for in his 
 getting up, his horse is still going, whereby he gaineth 
 way, and therefore the stirrup was called so in scorn, 
 as if it were a stay to get up, being derived of the old 
 English word, sty, which is to get up, or mount." 
 
 The horsemen were accompanied by horseboys, who 
 are thus described by Spenser. "After the Irish 
 
 * Pore Chaplain. We conclude this Prior Ford was chaplain to the troop, 
 and that the pay of such chaplains was 2s. and 3s. a day.
 
 HORSEBOYS AXD DALTINS. 105 
 
 kerne, methinks the Irish horseboys would come well 
 in order, the use of which, though necessity (as times 
 now be) do enforce, yet in the thorough reformation of 
 that realm, they should be cut off. For the cause 
 why they are now to be permitted, is want of conve- 
 nient inns for lodging of travellers on horseback, and 
 of hostlers to tend their horses by the way. But 
 when things shall be reduced to a better pass, this 
 needeth specially to be reformed. For out of the fry 
 of these rake-hell horseboys, growing up in knavery 
 and villany, are their kern continually supplied and 
 maintained. For having been once brought up an 
 idle horse boy, he will never after fall to labour, but 
 is only fit for the halter. And these also (the which 
 is one foul oversight) are, for the most part, bred up 
 amongst the Englishmen, of whom learning to shoot 
 in a piece, and being made acquainted with all the 
 trades of the English, they are afterwards, when they 
 become kern, made more fit to cut their throats." 
 
 After the horseboys come the daltins. ''The basest 
 sort among them are little young wags called daltins. 
 These are lackeys, and are serviceable to the grooms 
 and the horseboys, who are a degree above the daltins." 
 This word u daltiu" has an English look and sound 
 it should probably be spelt Dalton. The descendants 
 of the English, Welsh, and Flemings who came to 
 this country in the pay of the Normans, had long ere 
 this intermarried with the Irish, and had sunk down 
 to their condition. "While the Saxon in England had 
 been gradually rising in the scale of society, the Saxon 
 in Ireland had been as certainly sinking ; for the 
 Celtic chieftain as well as Norman knight, had no idea
 
 106 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 of a middle class, called commoners. A State Paper, 
 written during the early part of the reign of Henry 
 VIII., thus describes the condition of this class in 
 Ireland : 
 
 "What pyttye it to hear, what rueth to report e, there 
 is no tounge can tell, ne penne that can wryte it ; it 
 passyth far the oratours and the musies all to shewe 
 the conduct of the noble folke, and how crewell they 
 enterith [enlisteth] the poore corny n people, when 
 danger is to the king." 
 
 These poore comyn people who were enlisted or 
 " pressed," in time of danger to the state, were of 
 English descent. The writer of the State Paper just 
 quoted, makes the following most noble comparison 
 between the commons of England and Ireland : 
 
 " What comyn folke in all this worlde maye compare with the 
 comyns of Ingland, in ryches, in fredom, in lyberty, welfare, and in 
 all prosperytie ? Who richeith the Kinge's treasor, and repayreith 
 his cofers with golde, sylver, and precyous stones, save the comyns ? 
 Worsshipeith [supporteth] the prelates and the clergye of the 
 churche, save the craftye [clever] peoplle, and the caiiyshe rurall 
 folke of the realme of Inglande. 
 
 " What comyn folke in all this worlde is so power, [poor] so 
 feble, so ivyll besyn in town and fylde, so bestyall, so greatly 
 oppressid and trodde under fote, and farde so evyll, with so great 
 myserye, and with so wrecheid lyff, as the comen folke of Irelande? 
 
 " Hit is a comyn tome of olde date, ' as the comen folk fareith, 
 so fareith the kinge;' that is to say, riche comen, a riche kinge ; 
 poore comyn, poore kinge; feble comyn, a feble kinge; strong 
 comyns, a strong kinge : ergo it folowyth, a riche kinge and comyns 
 in Ingland, a poore kinge and comyns in Ireland. What comen 
 folke in all this worlde is so mightty, and so strong in the fylde, 
 as the comyns of Ingland ? What comyn folke in all this worlde 
 is soo feble, and soo evyll besyn in towne and in fylde, as the 
 comyns of Ireland ? "
 
 IRISH VERSUS ENGLISH ARMS. 107 
 
 We suspect it was from these poor Anglo- Irish com- 
 moners that our "little young wags," or daltins, or 
 devil's imps, (who were employed by the horseboys 
 in cleaning boots and spurs) were descended. Some 
 of these Daltins or Daltons took to " the road." 
 There was one so famous as to have his heroic deeds 
 recorded in the Irish Annals. The Four Masters, 
 under date 1414, tell us of a Henry Dalton who plun- 
 dered the king's people, and gave part of the prey or 
 spoil to that distinguished Irish poet, O'Higgins, who 
 '* satirised " the king's Lord Deputy " to death," 
 Dalton must have had a love for lampoons, to share 
 his prey with the poet. "We suspect that some of the 
 " little young wags " were his lineal descendants. 
 
 In the State Paper under date 1515, from which we 
 have already quoted, inquiry is made why the "Iryshe 
 folke" is grown so strong, and the "king's sub- 
 gettes," that is the Normans or English, so feeble, and 
 fallen into so " great rebellyon." One of the reasons 
 runs thus : 
 
 " Some sayeth, that the cause the English men be 
 so feeble, and Irish men be so strong, is, that English 
 men hath refused their own armour and weapon, that 
 is to say, spears and bows, after the English manner, 
 wherewith they did win and conquer the lands, and 
 hath chosen to them harness and armour, spears and 
 bows, after the Irish manner, whereby they hath lost 
 unto little all the land ; for Irish men be in number 
 ten against one, be more cunning and better in their 
 own war, than English men." 
 
 Another cause of the weakness of the English 
 government in Ireland, mentioned in this State Paper,
 
 108 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 was the inactivity and worldly-mindedness of church- 
 men, who were, for the most part, English. If a good 
 bishopric was to be had, they were all on the qui-vive. 
 In a letter " scribled at Dublin, the 27 day of August, 
 1620, Surrey writing to Wolsey, says: 
 
 " Also plesith it Your Grace to understonde, the Busshop off 
 Cork is ded ; and grete sute is made to me to wright for men off 
 this centre; some say it is worth 200 markes by y ere, some say 
 more. My poure advyse shuld be that it shuld be bestowed upon 
 sum Inglish man. The Busshop Leyghlyn, your servaunte, havyng 
 bothe, methynk rnyght do gode service here. I besech Your Grace 
 let none of this contre have it, nor none other, but such as woll dwell 
 thereupon, and such as dare, and woll speke, and roffle, when nede 
 shalbe. Yours most bownden, 
 
 T. SURREY." 
 
 On the 6th of September, Lord Surrey concurred 
 with his council in a letter to Wolsey, (which is among 
 the Cardinal's correspondence in the Chapter House, 
 vol. xi. part 2, leaf 22.) recommending u Waltier 
 Wellesley, Priour of a House of Chanons, called Conall, 
 a famous clerc, notid the best in the land, a man of 
 gravitie and vertuous conversation, and a singular 
 myude having to Englishe ordre," to succeed to the 
 vacant see, which is stated to be under a hundred 
 marks value. Wellesley refused to take the bishop- 
 ric, unless allowed to keep his priory in commendam. 
 In 1531 he was made Bishop of Kildare, and retained 
 the priory. He held both these benefices till his death, 
 in 1539. 
 
 Two years after, we find the Earl of Kildare asking 
 for the avoidance and denomination of the bishopric 
 of Kildare, for "Maister Edward Dillon, who is of 
 vertuous living, and English name and condition."
 
 CHURCH AXD CHURCHMEN. 109 
 
 Robert Cowley, writing to Wolsey respecting the 
 appointment, says, "Anthony Knevit had obtained the 
 bishoprick of Kildare to a simple Irish priest, a vaga- 
 bonde without learnyng, maners, or good qualitye, not 
 worthy to be a Holly water clerc"* 
 
 The earl informs Wolsey that the income of the 
 bishopric does not exceed a hundred marks sterling, 
 " the substance hereof lieth in the Irishry, and will not 
 be lightly had, but by temporal! power." 
 
 We may judge how this temporal power was 
 exercised by a letter from Archbishop Allen, or John 
 Dublin, to Cromwell. This John Allen was also 
 Chancellor f at "fortie marke" J a-year, but he had 
 received nothing from this office for two years and 
 a-half. 
 
 " Sir, afor God I desire no translation nor any manner 
 of benefice or cure, nor yet dignity, but only (if it 
 might please the king's highness to have some compas- 
 sion on me,) a prebend, which should came no murmcr 
 of absence, whereby I might keep a dozen yoemen archers, 
 in wages and livery, when I lie in the marches upon the 
 church lands, to keep me in the king's service from his 
 Irish enemies, and English rebelles, and ever among 
 them to do some little reparation." 
 
 We conclude the "little reparation" here mentioned, 
 was to be done on the bodies, and not on the souls of 
 
 * Hatty- Water clerc. The office of Holy- water clerk, or Aquse-Bajulus, in 
 plain terms, a " Water-porter," was conferred by Boniface on poor clerks or 
 curates. 
 
 f Chancellor. He was appointed Lord Chancellor, September 19, 1528, while 
 Archbishop elect. He was displaced from the chancery in July, 1532. There was 
 a John Allen, a relative of the Archbishop, we conclude, who was " Maister of the 
 Kolles" in Io32. 
 
 + Fortie marke Doctor Robert Wreston, Chancellor in 1567, prays Queen 
 Elizabeth to pardon him the 100 marks she lent, and the first-fruits of a deanery. 
 Calender oj State Papers, 1509-1673, p. 345.
 
 10 HISTORY OF COKK. 
 
 these Irish enemies, and English rebels. The allusion 
 to his lying out in the marches proves that John 
 Dublin dared to "roffle " when need be. 
 
 The Archbishop concludes his letter by promising 
 Cromwell, when he is "half ought of dett, one hobby, 
 one hawk, and one Lymeryke mantle, which are 
 things for a gentleman's pleasure in these partes." 
 Sad to say, John of Dublin was murdered at Artane, 
 in 1534, by John Telying and Nicholas Walter, at the 
 instance and procurement of Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, 
 better known as Silken Thomas,* whose father, at this 
 time, lay prisoner in the Tower. Allen, who had been 
 chaplain to Wolsey, was the enemy of the Fitzgeralds. 
 Silken Thomas suspected that his father's imprison- 
 ment was owing to him. Allen was brought as a pri- 
 soner before the young Geraldine, then in arms and 
 rebellion. Beir naim an bodach, " Remove the churl 
 from my presence," said the enraged young noble, 
 pointing to Allen. His men removed him with a 
 vengeance. Thomas, with his five uncles, were after- 
 wards executed at Tyburn. 
 
 The state paper, No. 81, is " The copie of the curse 
 given Thomas Fitzgerald and others for kyllyng the 
 Archbusshop ofDublyn" which is hot and heavy enough. 
 
 If the following be a true description of the clergy 
 at this time, we are not astonished they had to resort 
 
 * Sillcen Thomas. He was so styled from his silken banners, and the beautiful 
 and embroidered dresses of his cavaliers. He was the brother of the Fair 
 Geraldine, of whom Surrey writes : 
 
 " From Tnscane came my lady's worthy race, 
 Fair Florence was some time their ancient seat; 
 Foster' d she was with milk of Irish breast, 
 Her sire an earl, her dame of princes' blood."
 
 CHURCH AND CHURCHMEN. Ill 
 
 l 
 
 to, or employ temporal power in the collection of their 
 incomes : 
 
 " Some sayeth that the prelates of the church, and 
 clergye, is nrnche eause of all the miss-order of the 
 land ; for ther is no archbysshop, ne bysshop, abbot, 
 ne pryor, parson, ne vycor, ne any other person of the 
 churche, highe or lowe, greate or smalle, Englyshe or 
 Iryshe, that useyeth to preache the worde of Godde, 
 saveing the poore fryers beggars ; and when the worde 
 of Godde do cesse, ther can be no grace ; and without 
 the specyall grace of Godde, this lande maye never be 
 reformyd ; and by preacheing and teacheing of prelates 
 of the churche, and by prayer and oryson of the 
 devoute persons of the same, Godde useyth alwaye to 
 graunte his aboundante grace ; ergo the churche, not 
 useing the premysseis, is muche cause of all the said 
 mysse-ordre of this lande. 
 
 " The parsons of the churche crowd more by the 
 lucre of the ploughe rusty call, then by lucre of the 
 ploughe celestyall, to whiche they hathe streccheyd 
 ther handes, and loke always backwarde. They tende 
 muche more to lucre of that ploughe (whereof groweth 
 sclaunder and rebuke) then to lucre of the soules, 
 that is the ploughe of Cryste." 
 
 But we are not without examples of noble disinter- 
 estedness on the part of churchmen. The Pope, for 
 some reason or other with which we are unacquainted, 
 suspended the bishop of Kilmore, and conferred the 
 bishopric on a poor priest named John Brady, who, 
 thinking an injustice had been done his diocesan, 
 surrendered the bulls which had been drawn in his 
 favor to be cancelled, and " without interruption per-
 
 112 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 mytted the said bishop quyetely to enjoye the same." 
 St. Leger was so much pleased with his noble conduct, 
 that he applied to the king, Edward VI., on the death 
 of the bishop, to have Brady appointed. See Calendar 
 of State Papers, 1509-1573, p. 109. 
 
 Such was the state of things, and the general 
 misgovernment, or want of government, both civil and 
 ecclesiastical, in the beginning of the reign of Henry 
 VIII. In fact, the country had all but passed from 
 the hands of the English monarch, who had no party 
 there. An English party or interest in Ireland is of 
 more modern growth. If it had not been for the 
 natural antipathy of race which existed between the 
 Celt and the Norman, the English king and govern- 
 ment would have had no party in Ireland upon which 
 to depend, and the country must have been recon- 
 quered. 
 
 The Earl of Ossory, writing to Cowley in 1555, 
 says lt Then in January also, many of the McCarthies 
 and the Geraldynes of M ounster, began to murmor and 
 swell, whereupon I, with my retenue, sowed such stryff 
 betwene them, as they do continue in the same, full of 
 warr and debate, the one destroying the other."
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE EARLS OF DESMOND, OBMOND, AND KILDARE. 
 A.D. 15201524. 
 
 MAURICE, the friend of Perkin Warbeck, the Tenth 
 Eartof Desmond, died in 1520. He was, at an early 
 period of his life, nick-named " The B (teach," for he 
 was lame, which caused him to be carried to the field 
 of battle in a chariot, on which account he was styled 
 Maurice an Charbaid, ll of the chariot." He was suc- 
 ceeded by his son James, who commenced his reign by 
 making fierce war on Cormac Uge Mac Garth y, ravag- 
 ing and laying waste the territory of Muskerry. 
 
 "This year [1520] James, the Earl of Desmond, 
 began to ravage and lay waste the barony of Muskerry, 
 belonging to Cormac Oge Mac Carthy, with fire and 
 sword. The archbishop of Dublin, William Eokesby, 
 with other commissioners, went from Dublin to Water- 
 ford to appease him, but in vain, for Desmond persisted 
 to burn and destroy Mac Carthy's lands, who was not 
 backward in his turn, to revenge the injury, and con- 
 federating with Sir Thomas of Desmond, the earl's 
 uncle, (but implacable enemy) they came to a pitched 
 battle with the earl in September, which proved a 
 bloody engagement, wherein Desmond's soldiers for- 
 saking him, he was obliged to save himself by flight, 
 having lost above a thousand men, and had two of his
 
 114 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 uncles, John and Gerald, made prisoners.'' This battle 
 was fought, according to some writers, between Cork 
 and Mallow, near Mourne Abbey. Mac Carthy Reagh, 
 with the Tarbery forces, assisted his kinsman in this 
 battle. The victory, according to the same author, 
 was chiefly owing to Sir Thomas, the earl's uncle, who 
 charged at the head of the horse, and broke the earl's 
 main body of galloglasses. 
 
 We have the following account of the battle in a 
 letter from Surrey and the Irish council to Henry VIII. : 
 
 " Please it, your most noble grace, to be advertised, 
 that this day came unto me a messenger from the Earl 
 of Grmond, with a letter, expressing of a great discom- 
 fiture lately given upon the Earl of Desmond, on 
 Friday last past, by Cormac Oge, Mac Carthy Eeagh, 
 and Sir Thomas of Desmond ; as by the contents of the 
 said letter, which I send unto your grace, herein closed, 
 plainer it may appear. And as the messenger report- 
 eth, in the said conflict were slain of the said Earl of 
 Desmond's party, 18 banners of gallowglass, which be 
 commonly in every banner 80 men, and the substance 
 of 24 banners of horsemen, which be 20 men under 
 every banner, at the least; and under some, 30, 40, 
 and 50. And among others was slain the said earl's 
 kinsman, Sir John Fitzgerald ; and Sir John of Desmond 
 taken, and his son slain ; and Sir Gerald of Desmond, 
 another of his uncles, sore wounded and taken ; with 
 many others, where of the certainty appeareth not yet. 
 
 "Sir, any ways it is no great hurt that he is punished, 
 for of late he hath lent more to the counsel of Irishmen 
 than of me, your grace's lieutenant, and of others of 
 your grace's counsel here.
 
 BATTLE OF MOTJRNE ABBEY. 115 
 
 " Another way his discomfiture and loss may be 
 right hurtful. The most part of them that overthrew 
 him he Irishmen, and I fear it shall cause them to 
 wax the more prowder, and also shall cause other 
 Irishmen to take pride therein, setting the less by 
 Englishmen. Notwithstanding the said Cormok, who 
 was chief captain, is the man of all the Irishmen of 
 the land, save O'Downyl, that I think would most 
 gladly fall to English order. 
 
 " And, undoubtedly, if the said earl had not invaded 
 hisncountry, and burnt and destroyed the same, he 
 would not have attempted any thing against him, and 
 this discomfiture was in the said Cormac Oge's own 
 country." State Paper, vol. ii , p. 46, 
 
 Writing to Wolsey shortly after, he says : " Since 
 writing our letters to the king's grace, we have heard 
 divers ill reports of the Earl of Desmond in his moving 
 war against divers of the king's subjects, and other 
 Irishmen lately sworn to his highness." He requests, 
 in the same letter, to be furnished with " Northum- 
 berland speris and Welsh speris, and not bowes on 
 horsbak," and acknowledges the truth of the report 
 that he had discharged " divers tall men, and taken in 
 their stedis many symple personages" ; perhaps the 
 "light-armed skipping kernes."* 
 
 Surrey, writing to Wolsey, April 27th, 1521, says, 
 "There came thidder to me Cormok Oge and Mac 
 Carthy Reagh, two Irish lordes of great power, and 
 they have put pledges in my hand to keep peace to the 
 Earl of Desmond and his adherents, and to be ordered 
 
 * Kernes We find the Irish council directed to send over these Irish troopt 
 to assist the king in his Scotch wars.
 
 116 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 by me in all causes between them." Writing again to 
 "Wolsey he says, " a great capteyne of Irishmen, called 
 Cormocke Oge, dwelling nygh Cork, who is a sadd 
 wise man, and very desirous to become the king's sub- 
 ject, as an Englyshman, offering to take his landes of 
 the king ; but what yearly rent he would giye I am not 
 certain ; desiring also to be made a baron, and to come 
 to parliamentes and counsailes. He hath shewed me a 
 great charter, granted to his grandfather by the king's 
 noble progenitors, under the great seal of England." 
 Surrey, after duly examining the charter, recommends 
 that he should be encouraged, and adds, " surely he is 
 substantiall of his promyse." 
 
 One Eichard Peper, of Calais, who had been rob- 
 bing on the high seas, was brought into Cork in 1521, 
 with twenty of his companions. Surrey wrote to the 
 king to know what he should do with them, adding, 
 " I have noon authoritie to put them to deth, and the 
 long keeping of them will be chargeable to your grace. 
 I have none of their names, but Eychard Peper, where- 
 fore, if your grace would have them put to deth, there 
 must be lefte a blanke in the comyssion for their 
 names to be put in." 
 
 We cannot imagine what brought this Richard 
 Peper from Calais to Cork. The French were ever 
 ready to foment dissension in Ireland, and we suspect 
 that the favour shewn that <{ sadd wise man," Cormac 
 Oge MacCarthy, excited the slumbering wrath and 
 rebellion of the Earl of Desmond, who had entered at 
 this time into a treaty with the French king, for the 
 subjugation of Munster, and the confiscation of the 
 Mac Carthy property.
 
 DESMOND'S TREATY WITH FRANCE. 117 
 
 A paper in the British Museum,* Titus, B. xi. leaf 
 352, said to be collected by Sieur de Tillet, out of the 
 records in France, and written in his book, entitled 
 " Le Eecueil des Eoys de France," states, that in June, 
 1523, Francis I. made a treaty with James, Earl of 
 Desmond, (styled a prince in Ireland,) by which the 
 earl engaged to make war, in person, and at his own 
 charge, against Henry VIII., as soon as the French 
 army should land in Ireland ; and to bring into the 
 field four hundred horse, and ten thousand foot, and, 
 when need should require, to aid the French with 
 fifteen thousand foot or more, and to furnish horses 
 for the draft artillery ; and the king engaged to pay the 
 wages of the troops at certain stipulated rates. The 
 objects of the war were, to conquer Desmond's country, f 
 and to place the Duke of Suffolk (Richard Pole) on the 
 throne of England ; and it was provided that the Earl 
 of Desmond should hold his country to his own use 
 and benefit, except one of the three ports of Kinsale, 
 Cork, or Youghal, which Francis was to reserve for 
 ever, for the security of his ships. 
 
 Another source of rebellious feeling in the minds of 
 tbe Earls of Desmond, was the general preference or 
 precedence given to the Earls of Ormond, who lived 
 nearer the pale, and were more frequently consulted 
 on state affairs. When Surrey left Ireland, an Earl 
 of Ormond was appointed Deputy in his stead, and, if 
 we are to believe the State Papers of the period, 
 employed his power to cut down both the great 
 
 * British Museum. A copy of the treaty, dated the 23rd of June, 1523, may 
 be seen in the U x ibliotheque Imperiale, Paris. 
 
 f Desmond's Country. The Mac Carthys More were called the Lords of 
 Desmond, the Fitzgcralda, the Earls of Desmond.
 
 118 HISTORY OF COEK, 
 
 branches of the Geraldine tree. They succeeded in 
 destroying one branch only the Desmond branch. 
 The other branch, that of Kildare,* or Leinster, we 
 rejoice to say, is green and fruitful. And fruitful in 
 more ways than one. 
 
 The Earl of Kildare, writing to Henry VIII,, says : 
 "Having heard there was a Britton ship laden with 
 Gascon wine, at your town of Craguergcrise, [Carrig- 
 fergus] I addressed myself unto it." On his return 
 he discovered that the " said Deputie's retynue " had 
 carried off five hundred mares and colts. " Since it 
 was bruted here that your grace minded to amove 
 [remove] him from the deputacion, [deputyship] he 
 hath been nothing in effect ruled by your Council, but 
 hath made bonds with divers of the Irishry." The 
 earl's wife, Elysabeth Kyldare, writes to Wolsey on 
 the same subject : 
 
 "In my most humble manner I commend me to 
 your grace, beseeching you to be a good and gracious 
 lord to my lord and husband, for as yet my lord and 
 husband has not had any great profit by me, yet I find 
 him as good and kind unto me always as eny man may 
 be to hys wyf. Humbly thanking your grace to 
 remember me to my moder,t [mother] as tucheng my 
 maryag mom." [marriage money.] She then goes on 
 to say she is in continual fear of the king's Deputy. 
 " It is commonly noised, that if the said Deputy might 
 have my said lord at any advantage, he would utterly 
 
 Rildare. The present Marquis of Kildare, who has been so happily styled 
 the " First Irish gentleman" is as distinguished for his literary taste as for his 
 urbanity. His history of the Kildare family is a valuable contribution to Irish 
 literature. 
 
 f My moder. Elizabeth, Countess of Kildare, was daughter of Thomas, 
 econd Marquis of Dorset, by Margaret, his second wife.
 
 EARL OF KILDARE. 119 
 
 destroy him ; of which I have known him twice in one 
 morning warned, er he rose owte of hys bed." 
 
 We meet immediately after this, an c< Indenture " 
 of peace made between the Deputy Ormond and the 
 Earl of Kildare; and the next year, 1524, an inden- 
 ture between the king and Kildare, who is appointed 
 Deputy in the place of his old enemy the Earl of 
 Ormond. So much for "hyswyf" Elizabeth's letter 
 to Wolsey. Ormond, writing to his son, Lord Butler, 
 who was in London, tells him he must have " good, 
 secret, and diligent espyall " over the king's letters, 
 and adds, " Whereupon you must devise in my name 
 to the king and my lord cardinal, as my trusty 
 servant, Eobert Cowly, shall penn and endite;" or, in 
 other words, that the old earl's secretary should carry 
 on the war in penmanship at court, while the father 
 made war in Munster. 
 
 Robert Cowley's letters must have told, for the next 
 paper from Henry directs the new deputy, Kildare, to 
 pay our right trusty, and well-beloved cousin, the Earl 
 of Ormond, the sum of eight hundred pounds, " one 
 half of our subsidie there," which we conclude was the 
 balance of his salary. 
 
 The Earl of Kildare replies that " the said earl was 
 clierly payed the same subsidie, and all other revenues 
 unto him due, which amounted not to the said somme, 
 as shall appere by the accompt of your under treasurer 
 here." 
 
 On the heels of this demand come "Articles towching 
 the mysdemeanour of the Earl of Ormond," for taking 
 coyne and livery from the king's subjects ; for occu- 
 pying the king's manors and lands, without the king's
 
 120 HISTORY OF COEE. 
 
 letters patent ; for joining the king's enemies against 
 the king's deputy, and sending O'Carroll four gunners, 
 with guns and powder, to defend the said O'Carroll's 
 castle ; for permitting the late bishop of Leghlyn to be 
 heynously murdered by the abbot of Duske's son 
 [Maurice Kavanagh]; for burning, robbing, and spoiling 
 the deputy's town, called Lyvetiston ; murdering and 
 burning seventeen men and women, divers of them 
 being with child, and one of them that fled out of the 
 fire to the churche, slayne on the high auter [altar] ; 
 for keeping a warde of evill disposed persounes that 
 only robbe and spoyle and ravish women, maydens, 
 and wydowes ; for allowing churches to go to extreme 
 decaye, without making provision for divine service, 
 so that few or none laboureth to the appostill, without 
 the consente of the said earl and his wyf, by whom he 
 is ruled ; * for imposing a subsidie of four pence on the 
 king's subjects, passing the age of twelve years, within 
 the county of Kilkenny, towards his charges into 
 Englande ; and finally, for sending over to one Eobert 
 Cowley, to indite complaintes and diverse untrothes 
 against the Earl of Kildare, he the said Eobert Cowley, 
 " having with hym a signet of the said Earl of 
 Ormondes, to seale the same." 
 
 This state paper concludes thus : " In case the Earl 
 of Ormond make any new matter of the letter which 
 
 * By whom he is ruled. " She was man-like, and tall of stature, and very 
 liberal and bountiful, a sure friend, a bitter enemy. Hardly disliking where she 
 fancied, not easily fancying where she disliked. She was a good help-mete in 
 those days, whereby her husband's country was brought to civilitie. The Earl 
 and Countess planted great civilitie in the countie cf Tipperary and Kilkenny, 
 and to give good example to the people, brought out of Flanders and other 
 countries, divers artificers, who were daily at work in the castle of Kilkenny, 
 where they wrought diaper, tapestry, turkey carpetts, cushions, and other like 
 workes, whereof some do remaine as yet with the now Earl of Ormond," Vidt 
 British Museum, MSS. 4792, by Robert Eothe, in 1616.
 
 DESMOND AND KILDAEE. 121 
 
 the Earl of ICildare sent to the Earl of Desmond, the 
 trouth thereof was this : Notwithstanding the wars 
 between the Earl of Kildare and the Earl of Desmond, 
 the said Earl of Kildare wrote to the said Earl of 
 Desmond to meet him at a certain place, where he 
 desired his aid against the king's rebels, as Mac 
 Carthys, Cormok Oge, and other the king's Irish rebels. 
 At the writing of which letter the said Earl of Kildare 
 knew nothing of the said Earl of Desmond's mysde- 
 meanure towards the king's grace ; which letter Lady 
 Ormond caused to be taken from the Earl of Kildare's 
 servant, who lodged at her house j* the said letter was 
 shewn to the commissioners by the Earl of Ormond, 
 who, no doubt, endeavoured to implicate the Earl of 
 Kildare in the Earl of Desmond's treason with the 
 King of France. But to prove that the Earl of Kildare 
 is a true man, and no traitor, ( when it shall please the 
 king's grace to command him (the Earl of Kildare) to 
 do anything for his (the Earl of Desmond's) reformation 
 or punysshement ; then it shall well appere whether he 
 shall do his devour to accomplisshe the same or not.' " 
 He went to Minister after writing this letter for the 
 ostensible object of arresting Desmond, but did not 
 succeed ; for the Earl of Desmond kept out of the way, 
 alleging his privilege of not coming before any governor, 
 unless he listed. Ormond accused Kildare of playing 
 a double game. He was ordered to London, where 
 Wolsey said, " Had you lost a cow or horse of your own, 
 two hundred of your retainers would have rescued the 
 prey. Earl ! nay, King of Kildare for when you 
 are disposed, you reign more like, than rule the land." 
 
 * Who lodged at her house. Margaret, the Countess of Ormond, was sister to 
 the Earl of Kildare.
 
 122 HISTORY OP CORK. 
 
 A letter from Archbishop Juge and the Lord Chief 
 Justice Bermingham, to "Wolsey, under date 1528, 
 informs us that the Deputy,* Earl of Kildare, " for som 
 of his mysdemeanours of late, is committed to the 
 Tower," and that James Butler is in persuit of the 
 Earl of Desmond, " whois person it will be harde to 
 take, as we suppose, but by trayn." 
 
 It was James Butler who was caught by " trayn," 
 but we shall not style it trayn precogitate. It took us 
 greatly by surprise to find the famous penman, Robert 
 Cowley, the Earl of Ormond's and his son James 
 Butler's, private secretary, writing this very year to 
 Wolsey, and complaining that " James Butler is the 
 grettist freende, alye, and succour, that the Earl of 
 Desmond hath," till we remembered that the Earl of 
 Desmond had an only child, a daughter named Joan, 
 who married one James Butler, who afterwards became 
 Earl of Ormond. We are disposed to conclude from 
 the venom with which the secretary abuses the Arch- 
 bishop of Cashel, that it was he who tied the knot. 
 
 " The Archbishop of Casshell, by subtill synestre 
 means, without knowledge of your grace, and in a 
 maner in contempt of your grace's mynde and assent, 
 makith at court immediate and importunate suit for 
 sundry unreasonable grants and privileges, for th 
 maintaining and fortifying and erection of the Earl of 
 Desmond." 
 
 Again, " This Archbisshop and Sir James, by the 
 seducious practice of the man that your grace knoweth, 
 have bounde to giddress, [bound together] the one with 
 his spirituell power, and the other with his strenght, 
 
 * The Deputy. Richard Xugent, Lord Delvin, was vice-deputy .
 
 THE STATE IN JEOPAEDT. 123 
 
 that my said lord or his son should not be hable to doo 
 the king service against the Earl of Desmond." 
 
 The said lord spoken of was Sir Thomas Fitzgarret, 
 or Fitzgerald, Earl of Ossory, and brother to the 
 imprisoned Earl of Kildare. He was chosen by the 
 Irish council * to guard the state, in the absence of 
 the Vice-deputy, Lord Delvin. 
 
 This Lord Delvin, or Richard Nugent, had been 
 made prisoner by O'Conor, the Earl of Kildare's son- 
 in-law, who expected that his grace [the king] would 
 be thereby moved to release the earl " from his duresse, 
 and send him to rule here againe." 
 
 " Divers times," says th3 council," we have advertised 
 the Yice-deputie to beware of the said O'Conor, and 
 to have paid him the waiges that he and his predecessors 
 have long had, rather than to rynn to further daunger 
 or warr." The waiges, we conclude, was a sort of 
 black mail. 
 
 This 0' Conor and his friends made the country 
 almost too hot for the council. " Almightie God grant 
 that our sovereigne lorde may provide breve remedye, 
 or else this poor Englishrie is like to have such ruin, 
 that it will not be repaired in any man's days living ; 
 for the Hirishmen being never so strong as now, have 
 spied their time, and our debilitie never more than this 
 houre. The Holy Trinitie defend us, for here is none 
 other hope of socoure." 
 
 * Chosen by the Irish Council. It is erroneously supposed he was elected as 
 Deputy. The Irish Council had no power to elect a Deputy. " The strenght, 
 if any be, is by the Garrontynes [Fitzgeralds] be reason whereof we are compelled 
 to make Sir Thomas Fitzgarrct a Generall Captaine."
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE OLD COUNTESS OF DESMOND THE COURT PAGE. 
 A.D. 16241534. 
 
 SIR WILLIAM SKEFFINGTON was made Lord Deputy* 
 in 1524. It was at this time the Earl of Kildare was 
 enlarged from the Tower on promise of future good 
 behaviour. The Deputy was instructed to do his 
 utmost to promote "good unite, love and concorde " 
 among the Irish lords, and chiefly between the king's 
 right well-beloved cousins, the Earls of Kildare, Des- 
 mond, and Ossary. 
 
 James, Earl of Desmond, died 1529, and was 
 succeeded by his uncle, Sir Thomas Maol, third son of 
 Thomas of Drogheda. This was the Thomas who 
 united with Cormac Oge and Mac Carthy Eeagh, 
 against his nephew, James, the eleventh Earl of 
 Desmond, at the battle of Mourne Abbey, near Mallow. 
 " In nine battles he wore the palm," and was celebrated 
 by bards as the Victorious. He was even more distin- 
 guished as the husband of the old Countess of Desmond, 
 who lived to the age of a hundred and sixty-two, or 
 three. I knew the old countess," says Sir Walter 
 Raleigh, in his History of the World, " who lived in the 
 year, 1589, and many years since, and who was married 
 in Edward the Fourth's time, and held her jointure 
 
 * Lord J}ept(ty.'Re was not Deputy to the king, but to the Duke of Ekh- 
 mond, the king's natural son, who was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland on 
 the 22nd of June, 1529, and held office till his death.
 
 OLD COUNTESS OF DESMOND. 125 
 
 from all the Earls of Desmond since then ; and that this 
 is true, all the noblemen and gentlemen in Munster 
 can witness." If she was married even at the early 
 age of fifteen, in the last year of Edward IV., and if she 
 died in 1C 14, the year Sir Walter Raleigh published 
 his History of the World, she must have been no less 
 than one hundred and forty-seven two years older 
 than old Parr. 
 
 There is a story current that she danced with 
 Eichard III., and that she affirmed "he was the 
 handsomest man in the room, except the king, his 
 brother Edward, and he [Richard] was very well made." 
 Some venerable Sir Walter St. John, and old Lady 
 Dacre are reported to have conversed with the Countess 
 of Desmond, and to have handed down to posterity, 
 this corrected judicium in refutation of the spreta3 in- 
 juria format of the caluminated Eichard, Duke of 
 Gloucester. Eous says, "He was small of stature, 
 with a short face, and unequalled shoulders, the right 
 being higher than the left." Miss Strickland says 
 and ladies understand each other best "the testimony 
 of the old Countess of Desmond ought not to invalidate 
 the statement of Eous, for many a lady would think 
 any prince handsome who had danced with her." 
 
 The Eight Honorable Colonel Herbert, of Muckross 
 Abbey, near Killarney, has in his possession a portrait 
 of the old countess, stated to have been executed dur- 
 ing her final visit to London. The following appears 
 to have been painted on the back of the picture, the 
 time the likeness was taken : 
 
 " Catherine, Countess of Desmond, as she appeared at ye court 
 of our Sovereign Lord, King James, in this present year, A.D. 1614,
 
 126 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 and in ye 140th yeare of her age. Thither she came from Bristol, 
 to seek relief, ye house of Desmond having been ruined by attainder. 
 She was married in ye reigne of King Edward IV., and in ye course 
 of her long pilgrimage, renewed her teeth liuice. Her principal resi- 
 dence is at Inchiquin, in Munster, whither she undauntedlie pro- 
 poseth (her purpose accomplished) incontinentlie to return. Laus 
 Deo." 
 
 The death of this famous old lady is ascribed to an 
 accident. " She might have lived much longer, had 
 she not mett with a kind of violent death, for shee 
 must needs climb a nutt-tree, to gather nutts ; soe 
 falling down, she hurt her thigh, which brought on 
 fever, and that brought death.'' 
 
 But tradition and merry poets assert that it was not 
 from a nut, but from " a cherry tree," planted by Sir 
 Walter Ealeigh, that she fell, having been tempted by 
 the beautiful fruit. 
 
 " And as old 
 
 As the Countess of Desmond, of whom I've been told 
 That she lived so much more than a hundred and ten, 
 And was killed by a fall from a cherry tree then ! 
 What a friskey old girl ! " 
 
 The parish of Affane, where Sir "Walter Raleigh first 
 planted the cherries * which he imported from the 
 Canary islands, is within two or three miles of Dro- 
 mana, the residence of the old countess's family. The 
 Lord of Decies presented Sir Walter with Affane " for 
 a breakfast." 
 
 Sir Thomas, the husband of this old lady, was Earl 
 of Desmond from 1529 to 1534. He had been fre- 
 quently " out " before he attained the earldom. On 
 one of these occasions he slew his wife's father with his 
 
 * Cherrits. Edmund Spenser mentions cherries in his Epithalamion : 
 " Her forehead ivory white, 
 Her cheeks like cherries, charming men to bite."
 
 CRUMWELL'S POLICY. 127 
 
 own hand, but we learn from the same authority, that 
 it was not his reigning wife's father ; for on attaining 
 the title in 1529, he made a grant in perpetuity of the 
 country of the Decies, to his " reigning wife's father, 
 Sir John Fitzgerald, of Dromond," or Dromana. The 
 Countess Catherine Fitzgerald was his second wife. 
 This venerable pair, for the earl lived to a very great 
 age, lie buried at Youghal, where their monuments or 
 effigies in stone, with the heraldic monkey at their 
 feet, may be seen to the present day. 
 
 The earl had a son Maurice, by his first wife Ellen, 
 the daughter of Mac Carthy of Muskerry, but he died 
 before his father, leaving one son named James, known 
 as the Court Page, but how he came to attain this title 
 requires explanation. 
 
 Various plans had been proposed for the conversion 
 of the English or Norman lords from their Irish habits 
 and feelings, which had become ingrained. Many 
 elaborate State Papers had been written on the subject, 
 the general tenor of which was to foment bad feeling 
 between the English and the Irish, who could be 
 destroyed by neither the sword nor famine. The 
 sword was a weapon at which the Irishry had become 
 adepts, and as for starving them out, as Sir Warham 
 St. Leger had to confess, the thing was impossible, 
 their powers of endurance put starvation at defiance : 
 there they remained, corrupting the minds of the 
 Englishry, and encouraging the Norman knights in 
 their rebellion. A remedy must be provided. It was 
 hit upon by, we suspect, the astute Crumwell, " my 
 singular good master of the king's most honorable 
 council," whose word, at this time, was law with
 
 123 HISTORY OP COKE. 
 
 Henry VIII. We quote only a portion of the State 
 Paper No. 64, bearing date 1533 : 
 
 "The thing most necessary to be devised is to 
 increase the English order, habit, and manner, and to 
 expel and put away the Irish rule, habit, and manner ; 
 which must be, principally, with good and genteel 
 entertaining by the king's highness, of such as may be 
 brought to that purpose. But before the king's grace 
 should enterprise any general reformation, it must be 
 first devised that his grace's English subjects, wLich 
 are bounden to due obedience to his grace, wherein 
 now they are savage, be brought to reconciliation. 
 
 " And surely such of the Englishrie as are in 
 Munster are furthest from good order or obedience, so 
 that no difference is betwixt them and the mere Irish- 
 men, but only the very surname. Therefore it should 
 do well, that the Lord Barry's son and heir, the Lord 
 Roche's son and heir, the son and heir of James, son to 
 Sir John of Desmond, knight, the Lord Fitzmaurice's 
 son and heir, Theobald Burke's son and heir, Gerald 
 Fitz-John of Desmond's son and heir, together with the 
 Earl of Desmond's heir, being with such a Deputy, 
 and brought up in his house, should be a means to 
 keep and continue their fathers and kinsmen in good 
 peace, and be a good and honourable breaking in, or 
 training for them. Cormac Oge, who hath obtained 
 his liberty, and his denizen, his son is of too great age 
 to be brought to that purpose ; but his sonne's son, 
 whoe is but yonge, may be had thereto, for that lord- 
 ship goeth always by lenial descent* of inheritance, 
 
 * Goeth always by lineal descent. Not always, but we conclude the law of 
 tanistry was not in operation at this time among the Mac Carthys of Muskerry.
 
 THE COURT PAGE. 129 
 
 otherwise than any other lordship among the wild 
 Irishrie. 5 ' 
 
 The plan for catching and breaking-iu these wild 
 young Irish sons and heirs took Henry's fancy. He 
 resolved to adopt it, and wrote to the old Earl of 
 Desmond to send his grandson to court. The Patriarch 
 Jacob did not feel a deeper pang, when asked to send 
 Benjamin down to Egypt. He replied thus : 
 
 " I submit myself to your grace as I did to your noble, direst 
 [dearest] fadere, of famous memory, whose soul Jesu pardon, 
 trusting for to shew myself the same man, according to my bounden 
 dutie of allegiance during my life, by fulfilling all my promises to 
 my power, saving one, of which I desire your grace me to pardon, 
 as I have promised to send myne herre [my heir] to your grace. 
 I being well stricken in age, having none other but only he, my 
 lordship [inheritance] under your grace, beinge far assundere, hav- 
 ing sondry mortall ennymies, considringe myn anciente and his 
 tendere aige, your grace may consider, that we bothe has moche 
 adowe for to kipe our oune ; and if he were absent, bothe in daun- 
 ger of the see, and other mischaunces, I should had much adowe." 
 
 But he had much more adowe to appease the wrath 
 of the king and his enemies at court, who accused him 
 of "untrewly transgressing his most solemne othe," so 
 he was obliged to send the lad. The king took a fancy 
 to him, and made him one of his pages, instead of 
 casting him into the Tower, as his daughter, Elizabeth, 
 did the * Parliamentary EarV The old earl outlived 
 his favorite grandson's departure but a few months. 
 He died in 1534. 
 
 10
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SIR JOHN OF DESMOND THE COURT-PAGE JAMES FITZ-JOHN, 
 
 THE PRETENDED EARL. 
 
 A.D. 15341540. 
 
 THE grandson's inheritance was seized upon, and the 
 title assumed by an old savage* grand-uncle, Sir John 
 of Desmond, the late earl's brother, and a son of 
 Thomas, who was beheaded at Drogheda. 
 
 The charge brought by the old man against his grand- 
 nephew, when sent over to take possession of his 
 estates, was, that "he speJces very good Znglyshe, and 
 keepeth his hair and cap after the Ynglyshe fashion." 
 We conclude this charge was made to his Irish tenants, 
 but they knew better, for his grandmother was a Mac- 
 Carthy, of Musketry, and he had enough of her Irish 
 wit, notwithstanding the cut of his hair, and the fashion 
 of his cap, to marry the daughter of that " sadd wise 
 man," Mac Carthy Oge. 
 
 A law was passed at this time, (1536) 28th Henry 
 VIII., for enforcing the " English order, habit, and 
 language" in Ireland, which provided that no one 
 should be shorn or shaven above the ears, or use the 
 wearing of hair upon their heads like unto long locks, 
 
 * An old savage. This old man was engaged in the murder of his own bro- 
 ther, James, the ninth Earl of Desmond, at Rathkeale.
 
 LAWS RESPECTING DRESS. 131 
 
 called glibbes,* or have or use any hair growing upon 
 their upper lips, called a crommeal, or to use or wear 
 any shirt, smock, kercher, bendel, neckercher, mocket, 
 or linen cap, coloured or died with saffron, or use or 
 wear in their shirts, or smocks, above seven yards of 
 cloth. The women were also prohibited from wearing 
 any kirtle or coat tucked up, or embroidered, or gar- 
 nished with silk, or couched or laid with usker, after 
 the Irish fashion. And all were prohibited from 
 wearing any mantle, coat, or hood, made after the 
 Irish fashion, There was a previous act against having 
 a beard on the upper lip. 
 
 Sir John Perrott, writing to Burghley, at a later 
 period, says, " Amonges the rest of my doings heare, 
 I have caused all the Irishry in this province to forgoe 
 theyr glybbes ; and have waded into a farder daynger, 
 as in vanishinge all the GREAT ROWLES from the wear- 
 inge of ladies, gentlewomen, townswomen, and others 
 in all places, by which meanes / am assured to have no 
 wyfe in thease paries. ," 
 
 If we may believe ancient chroniclers and poets, 
 our Irish kings and queens wore mantles of the richest 
 silk, fringed with lace, and fastened at the neck with 
 golden buttons. The chieftains' shirts, of thirty ells 
 of linen, saffron dye ; leather girdles round the waists, 
 and red cloaks, with a hood and border of shagged 
 hair, drawn together at the breast, with a silver fibula 
 
 ' * Long locks called Glibbes. These long locks were deemed sufficiently 
 graceful to inspire our national poet, Moore, who has put the following words 
 into the mouth of an Irish maiden : 
 
 " And I'll gaze on thy gold hair, as graceful it wreathes, 
 And hang o'er thy soft harp, as wildly it breathes ; 
 Nor dread that the cold hearted Saxon will tear 
 One chord from that harp, or one lock from that hair."
 
 132 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 or buckle, short boots of untanned skin, and long 
 beards running to a point. When mounted on their 
 wild horses, with their brazen swords and golden -bitted 
 bridles glistening in the sun, they must have presented 
 a bright array. 
 
 The Court-page, or James, the Earl of Desmond, 
 acting, it would seem, under the advice of his father- 
 in-law, Cormac Oge, sent a Catholic priest with letters 
 to the king, informing his Highness of the base treat- 
 ment he had received at the hands of his grand-uncle, 
 Sir John. The Lord Chancellor Audeley wrote as 
 follows : 
 
 " Pleaseth your majesty, the Irishman who sued to your high- 
 ness at Mr. Secretaries, hath informed me there is a priest coming 
 with letters to your grace from James of Desmond, and from one 
 Cormoke Ogge, a Anight, whose doughter the saide James hath 
 maried. The opinion of this Irishman is that whatsoever suits 
 shall be made to your majestic by the said James and Cormock Ogge, 
 or the said Sir John Desmond, that your highness should, in this 
 time of contention in your said land of Ireland, abstain to grant 
 your favour to any of them to be Earl of Desmond, but to give the 
 priest that shall come to your highness in this behalf, fair dulce 
 words, till your grace may know more of their demeanour and 
 service towards you in your said land. 
 
 " He also delivered me a letter sent unto your highness from the 
 mayor and counsil of your town of Youghal, in your said land ; the 
 effects of which consisteth, that they declare themselves to be your 
 true subjects, and the great pains they have taken in defence of 
 your said town against your enemies, making humble requests that 
 your grace would send to them some ordinance and power ; for they 
 think themselves sufficiently furnished with men to keep the walls 
 of your said town." 
 
 'William Cowley, writing to R. Cowley shortly after, 
 says, " Last week, Sir John of Desmond came to
 
 THE COURT PAGE IN CORK. 133 
 
 Yowghill,* but was kept owt ; but he manages, with, 
 much people, to annoye them" the townsmen. He 
 then adds, " Without doubt this Sir John is one of the 
 worst that ever grew of that blood. He praiteth, and 
 is so proud of the little sodain overflowen power that 
 is shed to him. Sir, it will be right necessary and 
 expedient (standing with the king's pleasure), that this 
 young gentleman, James of Desmond, be retourned 
 home with letters of justice in his favours." 
 
 This hint was acted on. Captain -A p. Parry, who 
 was in the service of Lord Leonard Gray, thus de- 
 scribes the visit of the " young gentleman" to Cork : 
 
 " Upon a hill, half a mile or more, Cormac Oge was 
 with his host, so down came Cormac Oge into the 
 valley with a certain, and my Lord James with a cer- 
 tain, and so they met together, and fell to parleying. 
 And after they had parleyed, my lord went into the 
 town with all his host, and the mayor of the town, 
 with his brethren, received him in ther skarlet gowns 
 and ther typetts of velvett, after the English fashion, 
 and was very glad of us, Englishmen, and made us the 
 beste cJiere that ever we had in ower lyves. 
 
 " And on the morrow came Cormac Oge to the town 
 end, and brought with him the ywng gentylman wych 
 chalengys to be the Earl of Desmond. This ywng 
 man speaks very good Ynglysche, and keepith his hair 
 and cap, after the Ynglysche faschyon, upon hys hede." 
 He is content, with all his heart, if Sir John of 
 Desmond, his uncle, will submit himself to the king 
 
 * Youghal. A certain captain Ap. Parry, who visited Youghal this year [1535] 
 says, " The first night, from Dungarrvan we went to a towne called Yowhhol, 
 where we had very good cher, and were honestly received, and there they dyd sell a 
 galond of Gasgoyn wyne for 4d. sterlyng. State Paper, v. ii, p. 283.
 
 134 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 and his council. He is willing to abide by their 
 decision. See Slate Papers, vol. ii, p 283. 
 
 Upon hearing this, the Lord Deputy demanded that 
 old Sir John should go to London, and lay his claims 
 to the earldom before the King, " What should I do 
 in England, to meet a boy there ?" was his reply. 
 " But give me the Irish horson (horse) Morac Oge, 
 and I will go." We may conclude he got the Irish 
 horse, and set out on his journey, for a State Paper, 
 dated from Waterford, in 1535, reports, " This day 
 came Sir John Desmond. He is an old man, and can 
 speak very good Ynglysche.'' We cannot say whether 
 he went to London. He died in 1536. 
 
 James, his eldest son, set up his title to the earldom ' 
 This James was called the Traitor. He is called in 
 public documents the " Pretensid Earl of Desmond." 
 Wise, writing to Crumwell, says, " We are like to have 
 some sporte, procol db urbana luxuria, with the Des- 
 monds and the Breenys." The Deputy, Leonard Gray, 
 marches into his country, and endeavours to "entangle" 
 him, but without success; so he takes his castle at 
 Loughyl, makes a forage on his corn, and carries away 
 " doris and wyndowes, firing the roffe themsilffes." 
 
 Notwithstanding, this " Pretended Earl of Des- 
 mond," with something of the patience of Job, " shewed 
 himself, in gesture and communication, very reasonable 
 and condescending ;" but the Deputy has his suspicions, 
 and does not like to trust him, or encourage his hopes 
 to the earldom, the right heir being in London, pre- 
 ferring his more legitimate claims before the king. 
 The Pretended Earl has a conference with the Mayor of 
 Limerick, the Chief Justice, and the Master of the
 
 ' THE PRETENDED EARL. 135 
 
 Eolls, and offers to deliver his two sons as hostages, 
 and to procure Viscount Barry, Lord Eoche, Thomas 
 Butler, and others, as security in the sum of twelve 
 hundred marks, that he will obey the king's laws? 
 and cause them to he obeyed, and leave his claims, 
 with those of the Court-Page, to the decision of the 
 Deputy and his council, who are half won over to his 
 interest ; but the Deputy still hesitates. At this crisis 
 the Pretended Earl comes out with a public document, 
 which has the effect of allaying every suspicion, and 
 of securing the Deputy in his interest. Here is the 
 paper : 
 
 "Be it known unto you and every of you, the king's high 
 officers of his grace's cities and towns of Munster, as Limerick, 
 Cork, Youghal, Kinsale, and Kilmallock, that I, James, under God 
 and the king, Earl of Desmond, am willing and content to make 
 restitution and satisfaction unto you, or to any of you, that can 
 prove before the right noble Lord Leonard Gray, the king's Deputy 
 of Ireland, and the king's noble council of the same, of any goods 
 or catties by me taken wrongfully from you, or any of you, since 
 the time that it pleased God that I have been Earl of Desmond 
 aforesaid. In witness of the premisses, I, the said Lord James, 
 Earl of Desmond, hath put hereunto my signet, the 7th day of 
 December, the 28th year of the reign of our soverreign lord, King 
 Henry the Eight." 
 
 This, together with other documents, in which he 
 promises to act fairly by James Fitzmaurice, who 
 "challenges the earldom of Desmond," produced a 
 most eloquent reply from the Lord Deputy, who 
 descants on the excellence and beauty of truth. The 
 earl's " good cher, and gentle enterteignement " of the 
 messenger, Henry Hoke, had its effect. We can give 
 only a part of the Deputy's reply :
 
 136 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 " Right Trusty and Well-beloved we "greet you well. And 
 have received your letters by our servant, Henry Hoke, fo.r whose 
 gentle entertainment and good cheer we heartily thank you ; not- 
 ing therein great kindness on your behalf; desiring you to persuade 
 yourself, and judge in us, that in your lawful, just, and reasonable 
 pursuits and causes, we be, and will be, as favourable unto you, and 
 no less desirous of your weal, than any man, that's living. And 
 before we shall enter to the particularities of your letters, and the 
 paper of your articles, sent unto us, by our said servant, we advise 
 you to remember that truth and honesty excelleth all riches, and 
 other worldly things; and on the other side, if you will be accounted 
 for a noble man, before all things, decree and determine with your- 
 self that truth passeth all things, and is the foundation of nobility. 
 And again look you, never write, nor promise, that thing with your 
 mouth, but that you will perform it in deed effectually ; therefore, 
 before you make promise, be well advised, but when you have pro- 
 mised, for nothing break it. 
 
 " And concerning the obtaining of your pardon, you shall be 
 well assured, that we will be petitioner and mediator for the same 
 to the king's majesty, to the uttermost of our power, so as, if we 
 obtain not the same unto you, betwixt this and the first day of May 
 next coming, your pledges shah 1 remain no longer, but be delivered 
 to you again, without your own agreement otherwise. Also, ex- 
 cept James Fitzmaurice find sureties, according to your demand, 
 we assent that your pledges shall not be returned for any of his 
 demands. Thus committing you to God, who send you grace to do 
 as well as we would wish to ourselves. Written from the king's 
 manor at Manooth, the 28th day of December." 
 
 These arrangements, or contracts, appear to have 
 gone no further. It is probable they were not sanc- 
 tioned by the king, but the Pretended Earl managed to 
 hold his ground. .Robert Cowley writes (evidently 
 from England,) to Crumwell, *' This James of Desmond 
 in Ireland, who pretendeth to be earl, is of the 
 greatest power, and the best beloved there of any that 
 hath been these many years, nevertheless, for that
 
 ANTHONY ST. LEGER. 137 
 
 this gentleman* is here, and seeketh for succour at the 
 king's hands, it shall be for the king's honor he have 
 the letter remedie. Wherefore, if he in Ireland"^ will 
 come and make any reasonable submission, it would be 
 expedient; (the king's honor saved) to have both their 
 services, which would enfeeble much the Irishry, 
 especially the Brenes, the Mac Carthies, and others." 
 
 It would seem from this that the king felt himself 
 bound in honor to support the just claims of the Court- 
 Page, who is so often styled "the gentleman," ox the 
 "yeung gentleman who wears his cap in the English 
 fashion." 
 
 Anthony St. Leger arrived in Ireland at this time, 
 (1537) as Lord Deputy, instead of Pour Leonard Gray. 
 In the "instructions given by the king's majesty 
 to his trusty and well-beloved servants, Anthony 
 Sentleger of Ulcome, J George Poulet, Thomas Moyle, 
 and William Berners, esquires," some very crooked 
 and partial dealing is recommended the Irish council 
 in deciding between the claims of the two earls. The 
 Court-Page is evidently a great favourite with the 
 King. 
 
 " And whereas, the title to the earldom of Desmond dependeth 
 in variance between the son of Fitznwurice, being here, and the 
 son of Sir John Desmond, called James of Desmond, now by force 
 usurping the said earldom, the king's pleasure is, that the said 
 commissioners shall debate the matter with the Deputy and council, 
 and shall by their advice sen! for the said James, to appeal' before 
 
 * This gentleman. James Fitzraaurice, the Court-Page, 
 f He in Ireland. James Fitz-John, the Traitor, or Pretended Earl. 
 J Anthony Sentleger of D /combe. William the Conqueror stepped ashore at 
 Bulverhythe, near Hastings, leaning on the shoulder of a St. Leger, afterwards 
 St Leger of Ulcombe. Sir Thomas St Leger married Anne, widow of the Duke 
 of Exeter, and sister of Edward IV. " Whether dating from Norman or Plan- 
 taganet, the blood of the St. Leger answers to the legend on their shield of arms, 
 " Haut et bon." Athenccum.
 
 138 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 them, for the scanning of the title between him and this young 
 man ; and if he shall refuse to come without safe conduct, the 
 Deputy and they shall award him a safe conduct under the great 
 seal there ; and if they shall or can thereby induce him to 
 appear before them, they shall first shew unto him that the king's 
 majesty doth much marvel that he useth himself in such a violent 
 sort, and so take upon him to be his own judge, and therewith 
 shew himself to be his highness's rebel ; and that his grace hath 
 commanded them expressly to intimate unto him, that unless he 
 will humbly submit himself and desire his pardon for his former 
 offences, and stand to their order upon the examination of his title 
 for the possession of that earldom, his majesty will not fail to take 
 such order for his punishment, as all others of that land shall have 
 cause to beware by his example. And if they shall by this means 
 and by such other good persuasions as they shall think mete, induce 
 him to a conformity therein, they shall then duly and substantially 
 examine the title between him and this young man, ivhos parte they 
 shall avaunce, because he is here with the king's highness, as much 
 as they may without the offence of justice, callyng all men, that 
 can anything say for his parte." 
 
 The Pretended Earl must have got some inkling of 
 these one-sided instructions ; some member of council, 
 or confidential servant, perhaps Henry Hoke, grateful 
 for his late ft good cher and gentel entertainment,'' let 
 out the state secret. He writes informing the king 
 that he had served him more faithfully than any of his 
 predecessors, since his " grantfather who was heded 
 [beheaded] at Drodagh," save only his father, who was 
 " the leader and forman of the king's hoste in Ireland, 
 especiall in Munster." He greatly marvels that his 
 noble grace should not consider in his heart the ex- 
 tortions, treasons, and rebellions of the "bastarde 
 called Jamys Fitz-Moryce," whom his grace favored, 
 although his father and grandfather were always rebels 
 against the crown, robbing cities and borough towns,
 
 THE PRETENDED EARL. 139 
 
 and killing merchants and other subjects. Henry VIII. 
 was most anxious, at this time, to promote trade and 
 commerce. As for him (James Fitz-John), with the 
 help of God and three-hundred well-armed men, he 
 would promise to bring the whole of Munster into 
 subjection within two years. 
 
 The last sentence had a magical effect on the king. 
 Crumwell writes to St. Leger, " This shall be to 
 advertise you, that the king's majesty hath received 
 such another letter from James of Desmond. His 
 hjness desireth you to handell the sayd James in a gentyll 
 sorte, declaring that his majesty taketh his letters in 
 good parte ; and enter with him upon the points of the 
 same, that you may the better fele hym and his 
 purpose, what service he shall be able to do, and what 
 recompence he will make to this young man" This 
 " young man " appears to be ever and always at 
 Henry's elbow. 
 
 St. Leger replies, " This day we proceed to the 
 survey of the king's lands,* towards the part wh'ere 
 James Desmond is, with whom we trust to have com- 
 munication." Again, "We further advertise your 
 good lordship, that we have parled with James of 
 Desmond in the fields without the town of Clommell, 
 [Clonmel] and not perceiving any towardness in him, 
 departed without making any conclusion." 
 
 Two days after, the earl sent his secretary to St. 
 Leger, with his master's signet, saying that the captain 
 of his galloglasses being present on the former occasion, 
 he durst not proceed to business. The secretary 
 
 * Survey of the king's lands. Survey here means to see the state of the country 
 and its inhabitants. It was found that all the freeholders, lay and spiritual, 
 charged their tenants with coin and livery.
 
 140 HISTORY OF COBK. 
 
 brought a deed or article, (a copy is in the State Paper 
 office) which may be summed up thus : 
 
 James promises, in the first place, to be a most 
 obedient subject, to assist in maintaining the authority 
 of the king's judges and other law officers ; to levy all 
 taxes and benevolences granted to the king's highness ; 
 not to ally himself with or support the king's enemies ; 
 to defend and maintain the king's cities of Cork, 
 Limerick, Youghal, Kinsale, and Kilmallock, and to 
 protect all merchantmen. If he should get a lease of 
 Groom and Adare, and lands in the county of Limerick, 
 belonging to the Earl of Kildare, he will pay the rents. 
 Finally, although he repudiates the claims of that 
 bastard, James Fitzmaurice, who is a traditor of high 
 treason against the king's majesty, he is content to 
 leave the decision of his right of title to the king. 
 
 Crumwell acknowledges receipt of the earl's articles, 
 and directs St. Leger to proceed with him; and "as 
 he alegyth bothe bastardy and trayson against Jamys 
 Fitz-Morys, it is the king's pleasure that he shall 
 article the points of said treason, and write the evidence 
 of the basdardy, declaring himself frankly." 
 
 The proofs were not produced. " As concerning 
 James of Desmond, (writes "William Brabazon to Crum- 
 well,) he both writeth and speak eth fair, but I can 
 see neither good nor evil that he doeth, but worketh 
 for his own purpose. Howbeit the opinion of many 
 men is that he will do right well, but I am of the 
 contrarie opinion." 
 
 St. Leger writes to Crumwell the same year, " As 
 touching James of Desmond, and his submission under 
 his hand and seal," the seal here refers to the signet
 
 THE PRETENDED EARL. 141 
 
 he sent by his secretary "as yet we see no part 
 thereof performed. We have despatched another 
 messenger to him. with letters, to encourage him fairly 
 to perform his promises, advertising him how the king 
 taketh his submission in good part." 
 
 St. Leger's letter to the earl ran thus : " Right 
 Honorable, after our most hearty commendations, we 
 cannot but marvel, considering your letters to our 
 Lord the king, and your submission, under seal, made 
 to us at Dungarvan, by your loving frynde and felowe, 
 ^Ir. William Welshe, and your secretorye," you have 
 not performed your promises. On receipt of your 
 letter, dated at your manor of Lorgar, the 8th of Nov- 
 ember, we wrote to our said sovereign lord as much in 
 your favor as we could, who hath commanded us to 
 treat with you for proof of the bastardy e of Jamys 
 Fitz-Morryce, and the traytorous words by him spoken 
 against his grace, and how you will use the three 
 hundred men in case the king's hyness will send them." 
 The letter concludes by entreating him for the love of 
 God to take advantage of the king's favor, who sends 
 his royal pardon by Mr. Wise of Waterford, who is to 
 receive his son as a hostage or SF curity for the per- 
 formance of his promises and contracts. The "Articles" 
 sent by St. Leger along with this letter to the earl 
 (as I suppose we may call him) for signature, are far 
 more definite, and demand much more than the eurl 
 promised. We discover from the first that the king 
 had repudiated the power of the Pope, and required 
 the earl to do the same : 
 
 " First, that the said Lord James do clearly, as the 
 king's true, faithful, and obedient subject, relinquish
 
 142 HISTORY OF COKK. 
 
 the false and usurped power and authority of the 
 Bishop of Eome. 
 
 "Secondly, that he certify his clear title to the 
 earldom of Desmond, and the basdardy of James Fitz- 
 morice, now in England. 
 
 " That if permitted him under the greate seale of 
 Ireland to absent himself frcm Parliament, he shall 
 bind himself, by writing, duly to keep and perform 
 all laws enacted there." Some Irish lords thought 
 they were bound by no law to the making of which 
 they were not parties. 
 
 '* That he shall certify, by writing and seale, what 
 entertaynment [allowance] he will give to the finding 
 [support] of James Fitzmaurice, now in England, and 
 what surety the king's majestic will have for the 
 yearly payment of the same. 
 
 " That he shall state what he will allow yearly for 
 the forty gunners which he requires for the reduction 
 of Munster. 
 
 " Also, what yearly rent he will pay for the lands in 
 Limerick, lately in the possession of the Earl of Kildare. 
 
 " And lastly, is he willing to use his persuasion, 
 and, if necessary, power, to bring back Gerald Fitz- 
 gerald, the second son of the late Earl of Kildare, who 
 had withdrawn himself from the king, that cherished 
 him, as well as his elder brother and mother, in wealth 
 and honor, in his roialme [realm] of England ?" 
 
 It is probable that this young Gerald Fitzgerald 
 had the dependant condition of the Court-Page before 
 his eyes (whose acquaintance he had no doubt made at 
 Hampton court), and whose princely inheritance the 
 king was about to make over on his cousin, for some
 
 YOT7NG GEKALD OF KILDARE. 143 
 
 shabby yearly maintenance ; and that suspecting a 
 good Irish sword might serve him better than an Eng- 
 lish cap, he gave his gracious majesty the slip. What 
 had he to expect from a monarch who was at this very 
 time farming out his father's estates to the highest 
 bidder ? 
 
 James, the Pretended Earl, did not relish the last 
 articles, the first of which required him to repudiate 
 the Bishop of Borne, and the last to kidnap young 
 Gerald of Kildare.* " We as yet fynde no faythe in 
 Jamys of Desmondys, neither in worde or writyng. 
 We have sent to him five or six times, and always 
 received fayre promyse and nothing performed. We 
 have now a messenger with him, who has been there 
 more than a monyth" St. Leger, loosing all patience, 
 concludes "if we have not then, [at the messenger's 
 return,] such assurance as he hath promised, we think 
 it folly to give any further faith either to his worde or 
 wryting." 
 
 A better report follows on the heels of this : 
 " Whereas we advised your lordship that small trust 
 and confidence was to be had in James of Desmond, 
 yet nevertheless, he hath not only delivered his son ) 
 
 * Young Gerali of Kildare. He was brother to Silken Thomas and to the 
 Fair Geraldine. The young earl, -who was at this time about 13 years of age, 
 took shelter at Kilbrittan Castle, in this county, at the house of Lady Elinor 
 Fitzgerald, his aunt, who was widow to Mac Carthy Eeagh. She afterwards 
 married Manus O'Donnel, and made it one of the marriage articles that he should 
 protect her nephew Gerald. She afterwards quitted her husband for endeavour- 
 to betray the boy. 
 
 t Delivered his son. This was Thomas, the eldest son, by Joan Roche, the 
 daughter of Lord Roche, or Viscount Fermoy, whom he divorced in order to 
 marry Maud O'Carrol. Maister William Wise, who was sheriffe ofWaterford, 
 in a letter to Crumwell, writes, " James of Desmond has sent over to England 
 his son Thomas, whose mother is the Lord Roche's doghter, whom he put away, 
 and now occupycth O'KarrolPs doghter, by whom he hath issue." Lamb. Lib. 
 v. 602, leaf 105. So Henry did not get ihc right son after all.
 
 14i HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 into the hands of Maister "William Wyse, of Waterford, 
 (for whose coming we look every hour,) but hath 
 affirmed by his secretary, and writing, all that he 
 before promised.'' Whether this included (he repu- 
 diation of the Pope's authority, (a point on which 
 Henry was very jealous) we cannot say. 
 
 This was one of the last public documents signed 
 by St. Leger before leaving Ireland, the affairs of 
 which he administered with temper and discretion. 
 He was succeeded by a very different man, Lord 
 Leonard Gray, who got into trouble with every one. 
 
 Ormond, writing to St. Leger, after he left for Eng- 
 land, says, " James of Desmond hath put his sonne into 
 the king's hands." But the giving this pledge does not 
 seem to have had the effect of making James a good 
 subject. ** James of Desmond laid seige to a castle of 
 the king's grace. Whether he did it for displeasure 
 of one of the Brenes [O'Brien's] havyng ward there, 
 or for what purpose he did it, I cannot certifie to your 
 lordship." 
 
 Gray, writing to Henry, in June, 1538, says, u I 
 shall endeavour to allure James of Desmond to repair 
 to your excellent majestic, and have practyst with 
 your grace's servant, William Wyse, for the accom- 
 plyshment thereof. Again, "James of Desmond hath 
 written me, grevouslye complaining that the Treasurer, 
 Ey chard Butler, and all their retynue, and the vetynue 
 of their lord, their father, have invaded and preyed on 
 the country of a servant of the said James." He 
 hopes the variance will be appeased, arid asks for more 
 artillery. 
 
 Shortly after this comes a State Paper, accusing the
 
 LORD LEONARD GRAY. 145 
 
 Lord Gray himself of like practices. It is entitled, 
 " Articles of the enormities and abuses of the Lord 
 Leonard Gray, the king's Deputy in Ireland." One 
 of the charges was that he and his retinue made 
 hosting among the poor people, entering the public 
 markets and taking food without payment, and carrying 
 away horses and carriages, " which, if contynued, woll 
 cause many ploughes to be decaided and gevin over." 
 
 He is likewise charged with a want of hospitality ! 
 " Former Deputies have used to kepe honourable 
 [open] houses, having a household of a hundred men 
 [servants.] The said Deputy kepith noo suche house, 
 whereby he should discharge the country of a hundred 
 of the army." The charge, put in plain terms, is 
 the Deputy is not a u good fellow," but a churl, whom 
 nobody cares to obey. 
 
 We find this year, 1538, by a letter from Ormond 
 to the Council, something like the cementing of a union 
 between the Kildares, the Desmonds, and the O'Briens. 
 "Kildare's son-in-law have lately married O'Brene's 
 doghter, and combined with James of Desmond in 
 suche wise, that he have married his sister to the said 
 James, and by such means to enfeeble them that 
 taketh earnest part with the king's majestie." All 
 these alliances were closely scanned and duly reported 
 in state documents. 
 
 This daughter of O'Brien was James' third wife. 
 Whether his first wife, Joan, the daughter of Lord 
 Eoche, was alive, or he still continued to " occupy e 
 O'Carroll's doghter," is not stated. ' But there was 
 nothing strange in this. We are informed that Ulicke 
 de Burgo, first Earl of Clanricard, had three married
 
 146 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 wives at the time of his death, and it is added, in the 
 Council Book, " No doubt he hath maried this last 
 whoman solemply." They were, no doubt, walking in 
 the footsteps of their royal master. 
 
 The following incident, which occurred this year, is 
 valuable, as illustrating the state of society among men 
 in high places. O'Molrian owed the Deputy, Lord 
 Gray, forty marks, and to secure the payment, put a 
 pledge of forty cows into the hands of James, Earl of 
 Desmond. O'Molrian having paid Lord Gray the 
 forty marks, demanded of Desmond his pledge of cattle, 
 which the earl refused to return. The Deputy went 
 to him, and told him he must deliver the pledge. 
 " You are paid your money," argued Desmond, " the 
 affair is no longer yours." " Whereupon my Lord 
 Deputy and James of Desmond began to square together, 
 after such a sort, that all their men, on either side, 
 were harnessed, and put in full redenys to fyghte." 
 Friends interfered, and entreated Desmond " for the 
 love of God," to deliver up the pledge. This little 
 rencontre does not seem to have produced any bad 
 blood beween the pugilists. Gray, writing to the king 
 a few days after, says, "I set forward on my journey 
 with eight days' victuals to meet James of Desmond, 
 who had a good band of men, who diligently served 
 your majestie under me." 
 
 In proportion as James of Desmond grew in favor 
 with the Deputy, Lord Leonard Gray, he lost the favor 
 and good will of the Council, who thus describe him in 
 a letter to Crumwell, dated November 28, 1538 : 
 
 " Among other things, James, the Pretended Earl of Desmond 
 (by dissimulation, as it were), pretending to the commissioners that
 
 THE PRETENDED EARL. 147 
 
 he would be ordered in all things to the king's pleasure, and also 
 since my Lord Deputy's last journey into Munster, hath obtained 
 such a strength in Munster, as no Earl of Desmond, had there, in 
 no man's remembrance ; having constrained and allured to his band 
 the Lord of Kerry, Lord Barry, the Knight of the Valley, the 
 White Knight, and all others of the English blood in those 
 parts, which heretofore, for the most part, were at the king's peace. 
 We do not otherwise perceive, by his new attempts and gestures, 
 but that he intendeth rather to be the king's open rebel and adver- 
 sary, than the contrary, and having most of the O'Briens, and 
 many other Irishmen, his friends, if he should make an insurrection 
 (as we fear he will,) he may destroy the Earl of Ormond, which 
 thing all we of these parties been not able to let. 
 
 '* And therefore our advice is, that the king's majesty send over 
 the other James, which is there, giving him (which as far as we 
 hitherto can perceive, is the very right heir,) aid against the other, 
 whereby the combination and power of the other may be abated 
 and diminished. For much more good wisdom and policy it is 
 to put them two together, the one against the other, whereby this 
 pretended earl may have his hands full, to look to his own defence, 
 than to permit him to aggregate to himself all the strength of the 
 best part of Ireland, wherewith he may, at his sensuall pleasure, 
 return upon the king's subjects, for we see no likelihood, ne 
 esperance, of conformity in him for the king's purpose.*' 
 
 William Wise, the sheriff of Waterford, was evi- 
 dently no friend to Desmond. There still exists 
 (among the " Depositions in Treasonable Matters") in 
 the Chapter House, a letter from him, in which he 
 endeavours to implicate the Pretended Earl in treason- 
 able practices. The letter is dated Waterford, December 
 8th, and apparently addressed to the Lord Chancellor 
 Alen : 
 
 " I have spoken to a neighbour of mine, a merchant of this citie, 
 [Waterford] who came from Youghal, where he lately arrived 
 from partes beyond the seas. He shewed me, in a secret manner, 
 that on his coming on land at Youghal, he went to William Walsh's 
 house, and there, in the said William's chamber, James, the
 
 148 HISTOEY OF COEK. 
 
 pretended Earl of Desmond, the same William, and his wife were 
 together at supper, none other present but themselves. 
 
 " And, when he came into the chamber where they were, the said 
 William Walsh did bid him welcome, in Irish, demanding of him 
 from whence he came. He said from parts beyond the sea. 
 Whereupon, James of Desmond said to him. 'How doth the 
 Emperor?' The other answered ' He doth like a noble man, but 
 I have little speech on him, but of my own natural prince, the 
 King of England.' Then said William Walsh, ' But how doth our 
 new pope in England?' He said, 'I know no new pope there, 
 neither no pope, but the king,' Then said William, answering, 
 ' But I will be loath to be of his council, who putteth to death the 
 chief of his kin and council/ The other answered, that he did 
 therein like a prince of justice, and would to God, the like were 
 done in Ireland, then should it be a meny land. Whereunto the 
 said James of Desmond answered, you say like a wise young man, 
 you may depart." 
 
 The Pretended Earl sees the storm gathering in the 
 distance, and prepares to meet it ; and in order to 
 gratify the royal avarice for church lands, and to clear 
 his own character of the suspicion of treating with the 
 Pope or the Emperor, writes to Sexton thus : 
 
 " If it please his grace to have all the abbeys and fryers in 
 Munster suppressed, I shall bring his comysshners for the suppress- 
 ing and surveying of the same, and I shall take the same to ferine 
 [to farm,] with my friends and servants, so that it shall be a great 
 revenue to his grace. And for the more trouth of the premysses, 
 and the aforesaid James Fitz-John of Desmond, hirto have sett my 
 scale and signe manuell, the third day of Marche, in the 30th year 
 of the reigne of our Sovereigne lord Kinge Henry 8th." 
 
 (Signed,) J. ofD. (L. S.) 
 
 What hope could the Court-Page, James Fitzmaurice, 
 have after this ? But this did not satisfy the Pretended 
 Earl. He wrote to Henry himself, utterly repudiating 
 the claims of his cousin, accusing him of abominable
 
 PIEESE BUTLER, EARL OF ORMOXD. 149 
 
 and detestable treasons, and traitorous words against 
 the king's noble person ; insisting on it that he is a 
 bastard, as there was " no lawful marriage solempnysed 
 between the said Maurice, his supposed father, and his 
 mother, the doughter of the late White Knight." 
 
 Four months after the date of the letters to Sexton 
 and the king, it was discovered that Desmond, O'Neil, 
 and O'Donnell, had formed a confederacy with the king 
 of Scotland in favor of young Fitzgerald. The Earl 
 of Ormond, writing to Crumwell, says, " James, the 
 son^of John of Desmond, that pretendeth himself an 
 earl, having the permission and manifest bearing of 
 the Lord Deputy, hath won all the strength of Mun- 
 ster." "We are not to take all that the Earls of 
 Ormond say for gospel, for there can be no doubt that 
 they hated the Pretended Earl, and all the real earls, 
 and all the branches of the great Geraldine family, 
 with a most sincere hatred. Eobert Cowley, writing 
 to Crumwell (Sept., 1539), says, "I trust the new 
 Earl of Ormond will do some good on his part, not- 
 withstanding the great power of the Pretended Earl." 
 
 James, Lord Butler, became Earl of Ormond and 
 Ossory the 21st of August, 1539, by the death of his 
 father. The old Earl of Ormond is thus described by 
 Robert Eothe : The said Sir Pierse Butler, Earle 
 of Ormond and Ossorie, in all the course of his life was 
 very religious and godly, and as I have heard, by an 
 ancient man that lived in his tyme, he used every 
 yeare, in the last fortnight of lent, to retire himself 
 from all wordly business, and to lie during that time 
 in a chamber nere St. Kenny's church of Kilkenny, 
 called Paradise, and there he use his daily prayers, and
 
 150 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 gave alms to the poore, and prepared himself to receive 
 the Blessed Sacrament, and upon Easter Eve, in the 
 evening, he returned to his dwelling howse. He was 
 married to the Lady Margaret, daughter to the Earl of 
 Kildare, with whome he lived many years in great 
 honor and prosperitie."
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE rRETENDED EARL THE COURT-PAGE LORD LEONARD 
 
 GRAY SIR ANTHONY ST. LEGER. 
 
 A.D. 15401546. 
 
 IT haying been at length resolved by the king, my 
 Lord Prive Seale, t. e. Crumwell, and the Irish 
 Council, to displace James of Desmond, James, Earl of 
 Ormond, the hereditary enemy of his house, is employed 
 to hunt him down. But Desmond has, by some means 
 or other, made a fast friend of Lord Leonard Gray ; 
 the latter therefore must be first assailed, and, if pos- 
 sible, removed from offiee. Ormond, writing to 
 Wriothesley, says " The eminent danger now might 
 have been prevented if my Lord Deputy had been 
 ruled by the Council, whom the king's grace and my 
 Lord Prive Seale appointed to him, whose advice for 
 the most part he despiseth, adhering to the council of 
 those that are and ever have been Geraldines. And of 
 very truth his lordship hateth mortally all those of the 
 king's Council preferred by the means of my Lord 
 Prive Seale, and worketh against them all that ever he 
 can of malice, to withdraw the king's favor from them, 
 to wrap them in his highness's indignation, thinking 
 thereby to have his bridle of willfulness at liberty. 
 His practices are such, and so well known, that he hath 
 brought himself, in a manner, out of credit with all men 
 here, especially with Irishmen, who do not spare to
 
 152 HISTOEY OF COEK, 
 
 shew the same openly, saying, they marvel why the 
 king putteth such a man in so high trust." 
 
 Strong language like this requires some sort of an 
 apology : <c I have written thus largely to my Lord 
 Prive Scale ; and I forsake Christe if I do write this 
 against him of any malice that I beare to his person, 
 although I love not dyvers his willful and hedy 
 conditions ; yet I take him to be a hardy gentilman, 
 and a paynful ; but in my judment, an unmete gover- 
 nor." 
 
 Having laid down the pen, which he wielded so 
 powerfully against the Deputy, he takes up the sword 
 against his friend, the Pretended Earl. "But James of 
 Desmond is no contemptible opponent. He must be 
 approached cautiously. The Archbishop of Cashel 
 is employed to feel the way. " I sent the Archbishop 
 of Cashel, and others of good indifferency and discres- 
 sion, to treat with the said James. It was appointed 
 that the said James and I, with a few of either party, 
 should meet." Ormond approaches with a slynder 
 company, sparing no jeopardie, and meets the arch- 
 bishop, ryding at great pace, who tells him to " torne 
 backe," that it " boted him not to tary ;" which friendly 
 advice he adopted, writing to Crumwell to send more 
 aid to Cork and Youghal. But in the meantime, not 
 wishing the army to lie idle, he consults with the Lord 
 Deputy, whom he has so lately abused, with Mr. John 
 Travers* a " well-worthy" man, who has been just 
 appointed one of the Council and with the Maister 
 of the Eolles, respecting the next move. They passed 
 
 * John Travers. This John Travers was Master of the Ordnance, as well a& 
 on of the Council.
 
 THE PEETENDED EARL. 153 
 
 from the Shannon to Roscrea, from Roscrea to O'Car- 
 roll's country, from thence to Cash el, from Cashel to 
 Clonmel, from Clonmel to Youghal, from Youghal to 
 Cork, and from Cork to Kinsale. They were joined at 
 Youghal by three of the sons of Garrett of Desmond. 
 They passed from Youghal to Imokilly, and from Imo- 
 killy to Cork, where a large number of castles were 
 delivered into their hands, to be held for James Fitz- 
 maurice, the Court-Page, whose star is again in the 
 ascendant. Lord Barry visited the Deputy in Cork, 
 and bound himself, in three hundred pounds, to send 
 two of his best men as hostages. Hither came also, 
 two of the sons of Cormac Oge, the father-in-law of 
 the Court-Page. In passing through Kercurriry, on 
 their way to Kinsale, they took possession of lands 
 belonging to James Fitzmaurice, in right of his grand- 
 father, Thomas. 
 
 At Kinsale, the Deputy and Ormond parted for a 
 while. " My Lord Deputy resting at Kinsale but one 
 night, returned to Cork, leaving me for the coming of 
 Mac Carthy Eeagh, in whose country I found much 
 cattle, which I restored to him ; by reason whereof, 
 and other fair means, I so allured and persuaded him, 
 that he came with me to the Lord Deputie, and put in 
 his brother and his hostages." Leaving Cork, the 
 Deputy and Ormond repaired to O'Callaghan's country, 
 intending to cross the river Awnmore, or Blackwater, 
 when lo ! and behold, upon the other side, stands, in 
 all the panoply of war, the wily and enraged James 
 Fitz-John of Desmond, driven like a lion to its last 
 cover. He had " no manor of towardnes, or any good 
 conformytie." His deportmentwas threatening, so much
 
 154 HISTORY OF COEff. 
 
 so, that "My Lord Deputy, being so moved at his 
 words, returned to Cork again." 
 
 Men driven to desperation will resort to any quarter 
 for aid. James of Desmond, young Gerald of Kildare, 
 O'Neill, and O'Donnell, send letters and messengers 
 to the Emperor, the King of France, and other princes, 
 for aid. What is to be done with those rebels? 
 " To exterprize the hole extirpation and destruction 
 of all the Irishmen of the land, would be a marvelous 
 sumptions charge, and great difficultie, considering 
 both the lack of inhabitors, and the great hardness 
 and misery these Irishmen can endure, bothe of hongre, 
 cold, thurst, and evill lodginge, more than the inha- 
 bitants of any other land; and we have not heard or 
 redde in any cronycle [chronicle] that at such conquests 
 the whole inhabitants of the lande have been utterly 
 extirpated and banished." Besides, " the land is very 
 large, ly estimation and description as large as England, 
 so that to inhabit the whole with new inhabitors," 
 would require more subjects than any " prince 
 cristened" could *' comodiously spare." For these wise 
 and cogent reasons, it was humanely proposed by the 
 Council, to exterminate but a portion of the inhabitants. 
 This they thought could be managed by an additional 
 force of six thousand men, consisting of so many 
 dragoons, gunners, archers, and billmen. This humane 
 proposal was signed, it would appear, by the whole 
 Council, fourteen in number. 
 
 The star of James Fitz-John is again in the ascend- 
 ant, that of James Fitz-Maurice, the Court-Page, 
 sets in blood. " It was reported," and the report 
 was true, that "His Grace's servant, James Fitz-
 
 MUEDEE OF THE COUET PAGE. 155 
 
 Maurice, who claymed to be the Earl of Desmond, 
 was cruelly slayne, the Friday before Palm-Sunday, by 
 Maurice Fitz-John, brother to James Fitz-John, then 
 Usurper of the Erledome of Desmond." 
 
 This Maurice, as we shall see, was murdered after- 
 wards himself. James of Desmond now feels that the 
 inheritance is his. He posts to Youghal, where he 
 was " wele received and interteyned." After this the 
 whole country lay open before him. " He entered into 
 all the pills and garrisons in the county of Cork," 
 which the Deputy and Ormond had wrested from his 
 grasp. Around his standard gathered my Lords 
 Eoche, Barry, the White Knight, Mac Carthy Reagh, 
 and a host of Irish chieftains and captains, who had 
 lately given pledges of obedience to the Deputy. The 
 Deputy is thunderstruck, the Council are trembling 
 in their brogues. The new earl will be up upon them. 
 They must parley and meet him with " dulcie wordes." 
 Ormond resolves to beard the lion in his den. u May 
 it please your good lordship, I have practised to win 
 James of Desmond to serve the king's highness at this 
 point of extremytie. Perceiving he would not trust 
 me, nor yet be allured to any good purpose, I re- 
 solved to jeopardy myself in his hands, to win 
 him with familiaritie and persuasion." He therefore 
 passed two nights with him in the heart of his own 
 country. 
 
 "We suspect that Ormond had some private motive 
 for this visit that it was on this occasion the marriage 
 between the families was broached. We have a short, 
 friendly, and very badly written letter from Desmond 
 to Ormond, who is starting for London : u I desyre
 
 156 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 you, accordinge to my full truste, to bring me in the 
 kinge's fawor [favor] as best ye cane.' 7 
 
 St. Leger, who has returned to Ireland a second 
 time, as Lord Deputy, sets out for Cashel, accompanied 
 by the Earl of Ormond, who made him and his fellowes 
 11 grete chere " by the way. They meet Desmond in 
 Cashel, who is on his guard, and demands Ormond, 
 who has made him good cheer, as a hostage. Such a 
 thing is not to be thought of St. Leger refuses, but 
 sends his own brother and the Archbishop of Dublin 
 instead, throwing in John Travers, Master of the 
 Ordnance, to make up the difference. They meet in 
 the house of Sir Thomas Butler, and there, "in the 
 presence of Me William 0' Conor, and divers other 
 Irish gentlemen, to the number of two hundred at the 
 least, he kenelyd down before me, and most humbly 
 delivered his said submission, affirming that it was 
 more glad to him to be reconciled to your favours, 
 than to have any worldly treasure." After this he is 
 appointed one of the Council, in which capacity, St. 
 Leger says, he is " a very wise and discrete gentle- 
 man." 
 
 But there must be some atonement for all the 
 bloodshed and misgovernment of the last ten or twelve 
 years. Who is to be the scape-goat ? The Council 
 have already decided that Lord Leonard Gray, who 
 has been so long running with the hare and holding 
 with the hounds, and playing fast and loose with the 
 Pretended Earl, should bear their sins as well as his 
 own ; they accordingly draw out the articles of indict- 
 ment. They contain ninety distinct charges, for 
 uniting with Irish rebels, for taking them into his
 
 LORD LEONARD GRAY. 15 7 
 
 confidence and council, and for mal-administration 
 generally. The following are a few extracts, somewhat 
 curtailed : 
 
 "His lordship elected by himself a private councill 
 of the Geraldyne and papisticall secte, by whom he 
 has been ordred and governed ever sithens. My lord 
 sent his newphew to scole to Levorus,* an arrant 
 traitor and a rank papist. His lordship remained for 
 a greate space with an abbot, in the borders of West- 
 mythe, who wrote divers letters to my lord, and my 
 lord te hym, verie lovinglie. My lord had a servant 
 called Eobert Walshe, brother to the Prior Walshe, 
 and stand-bearer to the tray tor, Thomas Fitz-Gerald, 
 and when the said Thomas Fitz-Gerald was sent to 
 the Tower, my lord employed this Eobert Walshe to 
 convey private letters between them, conceiled from 
 the king. My lord fell into a gret familiaritie with 
 O'Brien's wif, who was an intier frend to the traytor, 
 Thomas Fitz-Gerald. My lord passed through the 
 strength of all Thomond upon O'Brien's nude [bare] 
 promyse, having for his salve [safe] conducte a simple 
 galloglagh of O'Brien's, bearing an axe before hym. 
 My lord made a jorney northward, and when he came 
 there, he took preys My lord was accounted a grete 
 frend to O'Neill, and my lord made gossope to O'Neill, f 
 
 * Levorus. The Lord Deputy Crofts, writing to the Duke of Northumberland 
 in 1651, recommends that Levorus, who was a schoolmaster to young Lord Gerald 
 Fitzgerald of Kildare, should be appointed Archbishop of Cashcl. He speaks of 
 him " for learning, discretion, and good living, as the best man in this realm, 
 and best able to preach both in the English and Irish tongue." Calendar of 
 State Papers, 1509-1573. The paper is dated Kilmainham, November 11, 1551. 
 
 ^Gossope to ffNcttl. When two persons stand as godfathers or godmothers 
 to the same child, they become goxsips to each other. Fosterage was esteemed 
 even more sacred than gossipry. When a child was borne to Mac Carthy Mor, 
 he sent a cradle to the person he wished to stand in the relation of fosterer to his 
 offspring. On one of those interesting occasions he sent the cradle to O'Coimell,
 
 158 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 which in Ireland is the grettist frendship accepted 
 amonges men. My lord sent his servaunts to spoill 
 the O'Reillys, then being at peas, whereby Cahir 
 Modder was mortally wounded. My lori made his 
 his last jorney into Mac Mahon's countrie, and stracke 
 a gentleman named Thomas Nugent, (being the best 
 of the name next to the baron) whereof he toke suche 
 shame and greve, as he never rose after he retorned, 
 till he was dede. Fynally, the pillage and extorcions 
 of my lord and his servants upon the king's poore 
 subjectes, be so many in every quarter, that thei wold 
 not be comprehended in a longe boke." 
 
 It was agreed in council in England, that "the 
 Lord Leonard Gray, led by the affection he lore to the 
 marriage between his sister and the late Earl of Kildarc, 
 had done and committed heinous offences against the 
 king's majesty. We believe the decision was so worded 
 in order to touch the heart of the king, but the heart 
 of the royal monster, was, by this time, callous. 
 Leonard Gray, who was Henry's second cousin, wrote 
 him before he left Ireland, " I do assure your grace, 
 of my pore honeste and truyth, that the tender sucking 
 childe dyd never sorer long for its mother's pap, 
 than my pore heart longeth to see your most gracious 
 presence." His desire was gratified a few months 
 ufter. He went to England, where he was attainted of 
 treason, and executed on Tower hill, on the 28th of 
 June, 1541. 
 
 Although St. Leger had arrived in Ireland, on the 
 8th of September, of the preceding year, he does not 
 
 of Ballycarbery, who returned it by a gillie, with the bloody head of Mac Carthy's 
 messenger. Mac Carthy hung the gillie on his gallows of' Park na Croh, on the 
 Lakes of Killarney.
 
 SIR ANTHONY ST. LEGER. 159 
 
 appear to have mixed himself up, in any way, with 
 the proceedings against this wrongheaded and unfor- 
 tunate nobleman. His object was to produce peace 
 and good will among all parties. To his wise and 
 " genteel handling " we attribute the great improve- 
 ment in James of Desmond. " Desmond promised to 
 have repaired at this Michelmas to your highness, but 
 suche warres as Mac Cartie hath erected againste hym, 
 and lacke of money, he cannot repaire thider this year, 
 but will send his sonne to your magistie." Desmond 
 probably had the fate of Lord Leonard Gray before 
 his eyes. 
 
 St. Leger was accused at this time by Cowley, "late 
 Master of the Holies," who was evidently a friend of 
 the Butlers, of erecting a new Geraldine band. The 
 wise and dignified defence of the Lord Deputy is worthy 
 of record : 
 
 " It may please your majestie, that where it hathe bene to me 
 reported, that the saide William Cowley, late Master of your Holies 
 here, shoulde article ageinste me, that I wente aboute to erecte a 
 newe Geraldine band, menyng the same by the Erie of Desmond ; 
 the ti oute is, I laboured mooste effectuallie to bring him to your per- 
 foicte obedience, to my grete parill and charge ; and this, gracious 
 lorde, was the onlie cause I sawe that, nowe the Erie of Kildare 
 was gone, ther was no subjecte of your majestic s here mete nor 
 hable to way with the Erie of Ormonde; who hathe, of your 
 majestie' s gifte, and of his owne inherytance and rule, gevin him 
 by your majestic, not onlie fifty or sixty miles in length, but also 
 meny of the cheite holdes of the frontiers of Irishemen ; so that if 
 he, or any of his heiers, shoulde swarve from ther dewtie of 
 allegiance (whiche I thinke verilie that he will never do), it wolde 
 be more harde to daiite him, or theim, then it was the saide Erie of 
 Kildare, who had alwayes the saide Erie of Ormonde in his toppe, 
 when he wolde or was like to attempte any suchc thing. Therefore 
 I thought it good to have a Rowlaude for an Olyver ; for having
 
 160 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 the saide Erie of Desmond your highnes' assured subjecte, it will 
 kepe theiin bothe in staye. And I truste in God, the said erle is 
 nowe so trayned, that your highnes may be assured of him ; and I 
 truste in God, he will se your majestie, or it be long. This, as my 
 bounded dewtie, whiche is to allure al men to your majestie's 
 obedynce, was the cawse why I labored the saide erle to the 
 same, and no geele that I have either to Geraldyne or Butler, 
 otherwise then may serve to the sarvice of your majestie, in 
 the whiche I love them bothe ; for assuredlie I thinke your 
 majestie hathe them bothe your trew and faithfull subjectes, and I 
 never yet harde that the Butlers offended your majestie, or your 
 noble progeny tors, in no poynte of rebellyon, whiche is miche to 
 their prayse." 
 
 Desmond goes to England in the summer of 1542, 
 is graciously received at Hampton Court, and has his 
 title of Earl of Desmond acknowledged. St, Leger, 
 writing to the king before him, hopes that he may 
 have a "short retourne," and that his "entertayn- 
 ment" may do credit to the royal "bountie." St. 
 Leger had already given him a gown, jacket, doublet, 
 hose, and other articles of dress.* 
 
 We suspect it was during the earl's absence f in 
 England that St. Leger visited " Desmond's country," 
 and the towns of Cork, Kinsale, and Youghal, the 
 prosperity of which had been retarded, or "long 
 hyndered by the evil behavor of two greate captaynes 
 in these quarters," namely, the Mac Carthys of Carbery 
 and Muskerry. 
 
 A formal treaty was made this year with both the 
 English and Irish lords of Munster. The document 
 not only gives Henry his new title of Fidei Defensoris, 
 
 * Articles of dress. O'Rourke, before attending the parliament of 1541, 
 petitioned for a suit of clothes. He states that he is " a man somewhat gross." 
 
 t During the earFs absence. St. Leger visited these towns in the autumn of 
 1542.
 
 LATIN VERSUS EXGLISH. 161 
 
 but styles him, under Christ, the supreme head of the 
 church on earth : " Et in terris, immediate sub 
 Christo, Ecclesie Anglicane et Hibernicane Supremi 
 Capitis." It contains the names of my Lord Barry, 
 and my Lord De Rupe, (alias Roche) my Lord of 
 Muskerry, Mac Carthy Reagh, and Barry Oge, (alias 
 young Barry) and O'Sullivan Beare, an Irish captain, 
 (sue Xacionis capitaneum) and Barry Roe, (alias the 
 Lord Red Barry) and Mac Donogh of Dhuallow, 
 (another Irish captain) and Donald Ochallogan, (O'Cal- 
 laghan) who is styled " Nacionis Primum," and Gerald, 
 the son of John, militem. These noblemen understood 
 Latin somewhat better than English. Of their igno- 
 rance of English we have a remarkable example. 
 A parliament * was convened in Dublin in the June of 
 the preceding year, at which these u Lordes of Mon- 
 ster," and divers other lords, were present, for whom 
 it was found necessary to translate the Chancellor's 
 opening speech from English into Irish. The speech 
 was " briefly and prudentlie declared in the Irysshe 
 tongue to the said lordes, greatly to their conten- 
 tation." 
 
 Contracts with Irish chieftains were generally drawn 
 in Latin ; Conatius O'Neile, in 1541, employs the 
 Latin tongue in renouncing the " Usurpatam auctou- 
 tatem Romani Pontifices," and styles the English 
 monarch " Supremum Caput Ecclesie Anglicane et 
 Hibernicane, immediate sub Christo." 
 
 The document signed by the Munster lords had not 
 the effect of producing that obedience to the king, and 
 
 * A parliament. A modern writer erroneously states that this parliament wai 
 convened in 1637 instead of 1541. 
 
 12
 
 162 HISTORY OF COBK. 
 
 good fellowship between themselves which was con- 
 templated. St. Leger writing to Henry, the next year, 
 1543, says: 
 
 " I met the Earl of Desmond, to whom I had before written for 
 the redress of many evil behavours, committed by the Lord Roche 
 and the White Knight, which be two that long have been out of 
 good order, and yet Englishmen, the one having destroyed the 
 other's country; the same earl [of Desmond], according to his 
 bounden duty to your majesty, repaired to their said countries, and 
 took them both, and brought them to me, to your highness's castle 
 of Caterlagh, where he delivered them to me to be punished, as 
 shall appertain; and so I have laid them both in your castle of 
 Dublin, where now they agree very well together, and lye bothe in 
 one bedde, that before could not agree in a country of forty miles 
 in length between them, and under their rule. I purpose they 
 shall there remain till their amity be better confirmed, and then, 
 God willing, and your high pleasure so known, I intend to send 
 them home free, and apparel them like Englishmen; for now they 
 be in ther saffren shurtes and heinoghes cotes. I must of force so 
 do, or else drive them to great extremity, for I think they both, 
 with all their riches, would not buy themselves one apparel, and 
 pay for their board in your said castle for one quarter of a year; 
 and yet I am sure their lands, \vell ordered, would make them both 
 great lordes. I trust in God this shall be to them sufficient warn- 
 ing from hence forth. 
 
 " And for that the same Earl of Desmond hath not only been 
 diligent in this, but in all other his proceedings, to do your majesty's 
 service according to his bounden duty, I can no less than humbly 
 beseech your highness to regard him according to your princely 
 goodness, the man being poor, and not able to serve your grace as 
 his harte wolde." State Papers, vol. w..,pp. 466, 467. 
 
 The poor man was after this raised to the dignity 
 of Lord High Treasurer of Ireland. 
 
 St. Leger's wise and impartial administration, and 
 humane treatment of Irish lords and chieftains, excited 
 the anger and fierce jealousy of James, Earl of Ormond, 
 who made a party in the Irish council against him,
 
 COWLEY ASSAILS ST. LEGER. 163 
 
 and employed Walter Cowley* to "write a boke." fie 
 also sent private letters to England, some of which 
 were intercepted. John Alen, Chancellor, and Gerald 
 Aylmer, Justice, volunteer their opinion in a private 
 letter to the king, " they twayne being his grace's olde 
 servauntes, having trayvaited thereto in the affairs of 
 the realme." They request his highness to inquire to 
 what extent his revenues had been increased during 
 the last five years, how much further his " writt 
 rinneth," how the reconciled and ennobled Irishmen 
 demeaned themselves, and what jurisdiction the king 
 had in their territories ; what was the strength of the 
 pale, and what barriers were erected in Leinster, ''the 
 key and stay of all the rest, for the protection of his 
 majesty's faithful subjects." 
 
 Archbishop Brown, who takes the opposite side,f 
 writes his private letter, and refers to the " insaciable 
 ambicion" of Ormond, who "rayneth continual quoyn 
 and lyvrie, called extorcion." When sent for, to appear 
 before the Irish council, " he brought with hyme suche 
 a company of galloglas ! " The said earl is more like 
 a prince than a subject, more like a governor than an 
 obedient servant." As this was behaviour which 
 Henry did not like, he sent for Ormond, and his friend 
 Cowley, to meet St. Leger, face to face, in London, and 
 there substantiate their charges. They go, and Cowley 
 is thrown into the Tower, where St. Leger writes to 
 
 Walter Cmdeyvias the son of Robert Cowley, the " trusty servaunt" of the 
 old Earl of Ormond. We find the father's name, signed " Master of the Rolles " 
 in State Papers, from January 16, 1540, "As for Cowley's boke." says Alen, 
 " I take God to record, I would be ashamed to be named to the pennynge of so 
 lewde a boke." 
 
 f Opposite side. Archbishop Brown writes five years after this, commending 
 the Lord Chancellor Alen, and accusing St. Leger of " papistical practices." Statt 
 Papers, July 31, 1551.
 
 164 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 him, saying, " If Cowley can shew that he is not the 
 inventor of those matters that he had set forth foolishly, 
 he shall have the more favor at the king's hands.' 7 
 Cowley, in reply, expresses his readiness to " declare 
 in open assembly, his foolish attempstate " against 
 St. Leger, "upon false information.' 7 He was not 
 privy to the letters found in Eoss, and other places. 
 It was Catherine Coke,* one of St. Leger's gentle- 
 women, who said that the Deputy hated Ormond above 
 all men living. Cowley's wife and household can 
 testify how much he was grieved after his interview 
 with Cantwell.f He explains, " with as sorrowful a 
 hart as ever any pore man had," how one Cantwell, 
 meeting and gossiping with John Conway, the Earl of 
 Ormond's servant, led to all this sorrow. 
 
 The curtain drops on this curious and interesting 
 correspondence, (which would furnish material for a 
 romance,) with the death of Ormoud, who, along with 
 "James White, steward of his household, and many 
 others of his followers, were poisoned at a supper at 
 Ely Home, in Holborn, on the llth of October, 1546. 
 
 Cowley, writing to the Privy Council, trusts that 
 their " noble hearts will incline to shew mercy to him, 
 whose sorrowful letters cumith to your honorable 
 hands amidst your noble joy ful feaste." The gentleman 
 who edits the Calendar of Irish State Papers from 
 1509-1573, asks, " Is it possible that this is the feast 
 
 * Catherine Coke. Was this Catherine Coke the aunt of the Lord Chief 
 Justice, who was born in 1552. ? 
 
 t Cantwell. This Cantwell must have been in the pay of government, for 
 the king charges the Vice-Treasurer, " to forbear payment of the wages due to 
 William Cantwell, and his man." State Paper, April 7th, 1547. Again, " Cant- 
 well to get one of his ears cut off, for counterfeiting the hands of certain of the 
 Privy Council," August 17, 1551.
 
 ORMOND POISONED AT ELY HOUSE. 165 
 
 [the poisoning] referred to above ? " We should say 
 not. Feasts were not less common then than now. 
 We are bound in charity to conclude that the cook, 
 and not the Privy Council, was responsible for the 
 " accident" at Ely House, Holborn. 
 
 In the meantime, the Irish lords u take up the 
 cudgels" for St. Leger, and in a fine Latin oration, 
 addressed to the king, nobly vindicate the character of 
 that " INTEGERIUM VIRUM." And Cusake, one of the 
 Irish council, when forwarding the document, says to 
 Paget, " I assure you good mastership, that ther never 
 lefte Irelande one that hath the prayers of pore people 
 more than he hath. Pittie it were that the occasioners 
 of our inquyetnes here shoulde not be knowen, that 
 such punyshment might ensue as others shoulde 
 thereby feere to attempte the lyke ; for till then men. 
 will be more busy than needeth." 
 
 But St. Leger is well able to defend himself, and 
 he does so nobly against ten distinct charges tabled 
 by the Lord Chancellor Alen. The charges can be 
 gathered from the replies, which we give in the most 
 condensed form : 
 
 1st. Farmers, paying for their farms, cannot allow 
 to the king the horses and harness which the owners in 
 fee did formerly. 
 
 2nd. For the obeying of the king's wrytt, " I think 
 it very little further obeyed than it was four years ago, 
 for it is hard to make wild men, who know neither law 
 nor letter, obey the king's process in so short a time. 
 When I came to this land no man could ride between 
 Limerick and Cashel without a safe conduct, and pay a 
 crown for every packe carried a horssebacke."
 
 166 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 3rd. As it regards the augmentation of the king's 
 revenue, St. Leger did his best. 
 
 4th. As it regards Leinster, the power of the 
 O'Byrnes, the Kavanaghs, the O'Mores, and the 
 O'Carrolls had been greatly curtailed. "Old O'More 
 wold ride everie day in the weik with more horsemen 
 than all the O'More's countrie " can now produce. 
 
 5th. As it regards the Irish who have been recon- 
 ciled, " having been allowed to murder the king's 
 English subjects," he knew of nothing of the sort. 
 
 6th. As for Irishmen not keeping their " pactes," 
 [compacts] " perchance if Englishmen were well exa- 
 mined they all kepe not their promises. " 
 
 7th. If Irishmen use their own laws, so does the 
 Chancellor's friend, " the Earl of Ormond, and all the 
 lord marchers in Ireland, and I would fain know 
 when Irishmen so well obeyed the king's command- 
 ment." 
 
 8th. To the charge of attempting to " control the 
 king," which looks like an implication of disloyalty, he 
 does not vouchsafe a reply. 
 
 9th. To the charge that " the king is beguiled," he 
 replies, " I know not what he meaneth thereby." 
 
 10th. To the last charge, where the archbishop 
 says he marvels how the whole revenue of Ireland, 
 along with 5,000 a-year, is consumed to maintain the 
 Deputy's estate, St. Leger replies, " I marvel as much, 
 he is not ashamed to lye, for he well knoweth there is no 
 such sowme spent there. For my parte, I have not as 
 much as I spend by five hundred marks a yere." 
 
 "We are not surprised to meet soon after this the fol- 
 lowing minute of Council : " The king's pleasure to be
 
 SIR ANTHONY ST. LEGER. 167 
 
 known for the naming of a new Chancellor."* He was 
 to be an " Englishman of some good behaviour." 
 
 It was thus that this wise, noble, and loyal ancestor 
 of the Doneraile family, who are now residents of this 
 county, discharged the onerous duties of Governor of 
 Ireland, and defended himself from his malicious foes. 
 Ireland never had, and never will have, a wiser or a 
 better Lord Deputy. 
 
 * Chancellor. Two hundred pounds was added this year, 1546, to the Chan- 
 cellor's income, making " his office worth 400 as we esteem it." It was also 
 proposed to augment the Justices' fees. " Two hundred markes in this matter 
 would do much to the consideration of them all." This included the Clerk of 
 of Council (who had but 10 a-year) and the Remembrancer of the Exchequer.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 EDWARD VI. MABY AND PHILIP THE EABL OF DESMOND, 
 
 A.D. 15471568. 
 
 WE have a new king and a new Lord Deputy. St. 
 Leger has been superseded by Sir Edward Bellingham. 
 The principal magistrates of the principal towns, send 
 letters and addresses. The mayor, bailiffs, and council 
 of Cork write to say, they have sent John Coppinger 
 to the king to procure the confirmation of their grants 
 and liberties; the mayor, bailiffs, and council of 
 Youghal, that they have captured a pirate, named 
 Smith, who had plundered their fishing boats, and wish 
 to know what they are to do with him ; the Sovereign 
 and council of Kinsale, that all their men have died 
 of pestilence there was a great plague in the city of 
 Cork this year that they have a wide and empty 
 town, few men, and naughty neighbours, that their 
 haven is stopped by " eagle's pirates," and that one 
 Richard Colle, or Colley, a pirate with a pinnace, 
 has married Barry Oge's aunt, and lives in his castle, 
 and will not suffer any one to come to the town. They 
 request the Deputy to send letters to Mac Carthy Reagh, 
 Barry Roe,* Barry Oge, and Lord de Courcy command- 
 ing them to take the king's coin. 
 
 * The Lor* Barry. The Editor of the Calendar of Irish State Papers for 
 1509-1573 erroneously styles this Irish nobleman Lord Barrymore. David Lord 
 Barry, Viscount of Buttevant, was created Earl of Barrymore, February 28, 1627. 
 The title Baron Barry was conferred in 1420, and Viscount Buttevant in 1555.
 
 BASE COIN. 169 
 
 The coin of Ireland, at this time, was not of equal 
 weight, or of as pure a metal, as that in circulation in 
 England. The Irish coinage had to be closely watched 
 by the Lord Treasurer, or there would have been the 
 most flagrant adulteration. Sir Anthony St. Leger, 
 writing to Sir James Croft, from Cork, May 20, 1551, 
 says, " the Master of the Mint is so destitute of bullion, 
 that he hath not where with all to furnish his ordinary 
 charges. Although there be here presently [present] 
 an honest substance of ore drawen in the mines, which 
 we think would make a good masse of bullyon, yet, 
 for as much as we are not authorized, we forbear to 
 put it in use." Bellingham was greatly annoyed that 
 he should not be privy to the king's treasure in the 
 mint. He neither bought " houses, lands, fee or office, 
 dised or carded, or riotously or laciviously spent the 
 king's treasures." 
 
 We meet, a few years after this, with a " common 
 supplication from the Lords Deputy and Council, with 
 the rest of the nobility, gentlemen, and merchants, and 
 divers others of the king's subjects, to the Privy 
 Council," which attribute the universal dearth of all 
 things in Ireland to the money, as the ^furste and 
 pryncipall cawse, withoute remedye whereof it is 
 thought ympossible to set a staye." They pray that 
 the monies in Ireland may be of the like valuation, 
 weight, and fineness, as in England. No English or 
 foreign merchant could be expected to bring his wares 
 to a port or market notorious for light or bad money. 
 
 The mayor and bailiffs of Cork write to complain 
 that Edmond Tyrie, while seeking the rightful posses- 
 sion of lands in Barrie's country, was treacherously
 
 170 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 c< murdrede by twenty -three foynes of an Irish knyffe, 
 given him in the very hart." William Davis, an 
 English gentleman of rank, was cruelly murdered in 
 the city this year, of which the mayor does not inform 
 the Deputy, but goes on to say, that O'Sullivan Beare* 
 had accepted a "large ransom" for the liberation of 
 John Tomson and other pirates. They promise that 
 no soldiers or other persons shall leave the realm 
 without special license and passport, and that they 
 will make a strong fortress for the defence of the town. 
 They complain that their harbour, and their whole line 
 of coast, is haunted and harassed by English adven- 
 turers. They mention the arrival of a "big ship " at 
 Kinsale, from St. Malo, en route to Galway, with wine 
 and hides, and desire to know the king's pleasure 
 concerning pirates whether they should apprehend 
 or kill them? They inform the Deputy, that "a 
 great ship of Venice, of seven hundred tons burthen," 
 together with other vessels, laden with Malmsey and 
 Spanish wool, have been driven into Cork harbour by 
 stress of weather. The Malmsey has been seized and 
 sent as a present to the king, which was likely to 
 settle the question of their right of seizure. The letter 
 goes on to state, that certain wild Irish, coming one 
 night to make a prey near Cork, were met by the Lord 
 Barry, who was going to do the like on certain other wild 
 Irish, and that the Lord Barry killed eighty of them. 
 It would appear from a letter, written from Carri- 
 galine, the 2nd of December, 1548, that Maurice of 
 Desmond, the earl's brother, had not the same scruples 
 
 * Dermot O'Sullivan Scare was blown up in his own castle, by accident, with 
 gunpowder, this year, and his brother Amlavus, who succeeded him, was killed 
 soon after.
 
 BLACK MAURICE. 171 
 
 about "buying an office" as the Deputy, and that he 
 understood, even at this semi-civilised period, that 
 ladies managed these things better than their lords. 
 He writes to the Countess of Ormond, who was a 
 Geraldine, that " he is nothing as yet promoted by his 
 lord brother;" if the countess had any place that would 
 suit him, "he will pay such fine as any other man 
 living would give." 
 
 It was a falsehood to say he was nothing promoted 
 by his brother, for the earl settled the whole barony of 
 Kerricurrihy upon him, with the castle of Carrigaline, 
 in which he penned this lie. But it is probable he did 
 not esteem this worthy of his services in murdering the 
 Court-Page, and thus opening his brother's way to the 
 earldom. He speaks of being promoted. He richly 
 deserved it at the hands of the hangman. He was 
 slain some time after this, when caught preying on the 
 estates of his son-in-law* of Muskerry. 
 
 Patrick Myagh, Mayor of Cork, wrote to the Lord 
 Deputy, stating that one " Tamsin," or Thomson, and 
 Ttichard Stephenson, lately in the pay of Kobert St. 
 Leger, had arrived in Cork, on Christmas-day, in a 
 ship laden with wines, figs, and sugar, offering to trade. 
 Very proper commodities for Christmas, though a day 
 or so too late. The mayor wishes to know whether he 
 is to trade, or seize the ship and apprehend the owners. 
 
 " There be land thieves and water thieves," quoth 
 honest Antonio. There were port pirates, and piratical 
 mayors and council men in " the city" in those days. 
 
 * His son-in-law, His eldest daughter married Mac Carthy Reagh, of Car- 
 bery; the second married Lord Roche, and the third Dermot Mac Teige, of Mus- 
 kerry. This Maurice was the father of James, who brought the Italians to 
 Smerwick.
 
 172 HISTORY OF COBK. 
 
 The corporation of Cork laid claim to all such confis- 
 cated property ; and the St. Legers were not in favor. 
 The Deputy replied that, " Tomson and Stephenson 
 may have probably procured their pardons ; that as it 
 does not appear their goods are stolen, the mayor 
 and council may trade. The mayor makes inquiry, 
 and finds that Messrs. Tomson and Stephenson are 
 honest merchants, that the people in the adjacent 
 country have long traded in their wares ; that other 
 parties have been compelled to return pirated goods 
 to the proper owners. Honest trading must have been 
 a hazardous affair in the harbour of Cork in those days. 
 The traders in Malmsey and Spanish wool would 
 scarcely style it a Statio bene fida carinis a station 
 very faithful to keels or mariners. 
 
 "Walter Cowley and Sir John Alen, as he is now 
 styled, are again in office, and members of Council. 
 The Council and the Lord Deputy are at loggerheads. 
 William Brereton sets Bellingham against Alen. 
 Alen, with a sneer, says, that Bellingham had been 
 favored by Mars, and wishes that Jupiter and Venus 
 had been as propitious. Bellingham tells the Council 
 it would be " a good turn for the king, if they were 
 all hanged." Such civility could not last very long. 
 Bellingham resigned his Deputyship on the 19th of 
 December, 1549, and Sir Anthony St. Leger was 
 nominated for the third time. 
 
 But his old enemy, the Lord Chancellor, is in the 
 field again, preferring charges. He replies to the 
 reports made against his enlightened and impartial 
 administration, that his majesty has now five thousand 
 hearts more in Ireland than at his coming ; that " such
 
 ORMOND'S WIDOW. 173 
 
 handling of the wild Irish" as was recommended by 
 certain of the Irish Council hath done much harm in 
 Ireland ; that his chaplain, James Bicton, is no papist" 
 as is reported. In writing to Mr. Secretary Cecil, u he 
 is sorry the Privy Council will not appoint his chaplain, 
 James Bicton, to the vacant see of Ossory. He mar- 
 vels that his owlde freende, Mr. Alen, hath wrytten 
 that he is not allowed to counsell here, but that he 
 standeth at the dore emong servants." 
 
 His " owlde freende," or enemy, the Chancellor, is 
 doing his best at this time to prevent a marriage which 
 promises to produce lasting peace and harmony between 
 the rival houses of Ormond and Desmond. The 
 widowed Countess of Ormond, whose husband died 
 of the poisoned supper at Ely House, has serious 
 thoughts of giving her hand to Garrett, the second son 
 and heir of the Earl of Desmond ; but the Lord Chan- 
 cellor remonstrates, reminds her of her first noble 
 husband, and in the end so persuades her against her 
 will, that she promises " upon hir honour, she wold live 
 sole [single] for oon [one] yeare " more. 
 
 The old Earl of Desmond and the Chancellor had 
 become friends at this time. In writing to his 
 brother, Thomas Alen, he requests that thanks and 
 gifts of apparel may be sent Desmond from the king, 
 to animate him in well doing. We find the following 
 "postil," or note of remembrance, among the Iri^h 
 State Papers for July, 1550 : " Letters to be sent to 
 the Earl of Desmond, the Earl of Thomond, the Earl 
 of Clanrycard, to Me William, to O'Donnell, or his 
 son, or both of them, to O'Reilly, to O'Kane, and 
 Mac Quillan ; and some remembrance, either of scarlet
 
 174 HISTORY OP COBK. 
 
 cloth or some piece of plate, whereby they shall the 
 more diligently be inclined to serve the king. Pos tilled: 
 cups to be provided to the value of 100." These 
 presents of apparel and red cloth, to incline them to 
 serve the king, look very childish or savage-civilising. 
 The plate and silver cups are quite up to the mark of 
 the present day. 
 
 The Lord Deputy was instructed, in the early part 
 of 1551, to visit Cork, Kinsale, Baltimore, and Beare, 
 and to report what points of the south-western coast 
 required to be fortified; he was also advised that ships 
 had been sent to Waterford with arms and munition. 
 He remonstrated, and expressed his inability of forti- 
 fying either Cork or Kinsale without money from the 
 mint. He informs the Privy Council that he has the 
 sons of the Earls of Desmond and Thomond ready to 
 send into England. He acknowledges the arrival of a 
 thousand soldiers and a hundred and twenty pioDeers, 
 but has no money to pay them. 
 
 St. Leger retired from the Deputyship in the May 
 of 1551, and Sir James Croft was appointed in his stead. 
 Mr. St. Leger, the son, gets the office of Andrew 
 Brereton, who has, as he states, " honestly served." 
 The Earls of Desmond, Thomond, Clanricard and the 
 Earl of Tyrone, with the Countess, his wife, repair to 
 Dublin to welcome the new Lord Deputy. These 
 Irish rebel lords are being converted into courtiers. 
 Andrew Brereton, who has lost office, calls Tyrone a 
 traitor, and says he wrote to the King of France, 
 promising to join him against King Edward. Mac 
 Carthy More submits; an oath of fealty is preparing 
 for his people.
 
 EARL OF DESMOND, LORD TREASURER. 175 
 
 The new Lord Deputy, Sir Thomas Croft, writes to 
 Duddeley, Earl of Warwick, respecting the fortification 
 of Cork, Kinsale, and Baltimore, and recommends the 
 punctual payment of the thousand soldiers and hundred 
 and forty laborers, who are " without money to find 
 them," support themselves. 
 
 The Earl of Desmond is made Treasurer, "with 
 such pre-eminences and dignities as may stand with 
 the surety of the state." There was a necessity for this 
 saving clause, for at this very time the Lord Deputy 
 had to call Gerald, the earl's son, and Maurice, the 
 earl's brother, before him, "for preys they had taken 
 from the O'Mahons;" and the old earl himself had 
 a dispute with Lord Fitzmaurice, respecting the 
 "liberties" of Kerry. He offers to entertain at his 
 own cost,* the Chief Justice Luttrell, P. Barnewall, 
 Master of the Eolls, or any other judges who can 
 speak the language, that the case may be fully and 
 fairly tried. The earl also lays claim to the manor of 
 Dungarvan, which was wrested from him by the Earl 
 of Ormond ; he supplicates the Privy Council, and gets 
 Sir Thomas Cusake, the new Lord Chancellor, to 
 " recommend his suit." This was nothing uncommon 
 in these days. 
 
 Sir John Alen, the late Lord Chancellor, had retired 
 on a pension of two hundred marks, and was engaged 
 in making out depositions against St. Leger, on the 
 score of religion. He was unable to go to England, 
 as the surgeon, in attempting to bleed him in the 
 
 * To entertain at his oicn cost. About sixty years after this, a Cork Jury says, 
 "We present that all the lords of this country, to color and maintain their own 
 extortions, have wrought such a policy to entertain all the laivycrs of the province ', 
 whereby no freeholder nor poor man can have a lawyer to speak in his cause, be 
 it never so just."
 
 176 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 leg,* had hit the wrong vein, or u severed a sinew." 
 St. Leger was also hors de combat. In sending a packet 
 of letters to the Duke of Northumberland, he says, 
 " For thys ij days I have bene so paynyd with the 
 syatyca, as I ame nether hable well to goo nor ryde." 
 In the mean time, Alen's case against St, Leger seems 
 to have broken down, for the king, writing in 1553 to 
 Con, Earl of Tyrone, who, " through gentill enter- 
 teignment," was arrested in Dublin, refers him to 
 " Sir Anthony St. Leger, whom he purposes to send 
 presently into Ireland as Lord Deputy." 
 
 We meet at this time with a "Device for the better 
 Government of Ireland," in which it is proposed that 
 no man be Deputy above one year ; that every three 
 years a mere Englishman be Deputy ; that after one 
 year the Earl of Kildare be Deputy. These are among 
 the last Irish State Papers of the reign of Edward VI., 
 and are dated Westminster, June 9th, 1553. 
 
 St. Leger was in office for the fourth time in 1553, 
 when Queen Mary ascended the English throne. The 
 second Irish State Paper, written in the October of 
 1553, contains instructions to the Deputy to " restore 
 the Old Eeligion." The next is a letter from Conaghor 
 M'Carthy, clerk, to the queen, praying for permission 
 to go to Rome, to obtain from the Pope " certain porr 
 benefices." 
 
 St. Leger is assailed in 1555, on the score of expen- 
 diture. He says that the queen owes him 3,000, 
 and that he has borrowed so much he can borrow no 
 more. He retires from office in the April of 1556, 
 
 To bleed. Mm in the leg. Before the discovery of the circulation of the blood, 
 it was the habit, to abate inflammation by bleediug the part affected. This habit 
 prevails in some parts to the present day.
 
 THE FRTAES OF SIIANDON. 177 
 
 and is succeeded by "Sir Thomas Radclyff, Lord 
 Fitzwauter." 
 
 The Earl of Desmond writes to the queen, 1577, to 
 complain that John Walsh, " by sinister means " has 
 got the manor of Dunsjarvan. He sends his chaplain, 
 Dorbye ne Eoyne Darby Eonan to insist on his 
 just claims, and his right to the prize wines of Youghal 
 and Kinsale, belonging to the late Earl of Ormond. 
 In all these suits, he says, writing to his chaplain, 
 " My Lorde of Pembrooke, my Lord of Ely" it was 
 at Ely House, Ormond was poisoned " and Master 
 Petre, I trust, wyll further youe." He writes under 
 date, March 1st, to the Mayor of Cork, to let him have 
 certain of her majesty's powder and shot, and, if need 
 be, the loan of certain great guns, " to plague disordered 
 people within his rule," or rather, we suspect, to put 
 a bold face on his demands for Dungarvan. 
 
 Lord Fitzwauter succeeds to the title of Earl 
 of Sussex. Philip and Mary send a circular to the 
 nobility of Ireland, charging them to further all good 
 order pertaining to piety. The Earl of Desmond 
 replies, (the letter is dated, Youghal, October 13th,) 
 If her majesty would direct letters to John Browne, 
 and Edmond Gowle, [Gould] merchants of Cork, to 
 restore the dissolved house of Friars' Preachers, adjoin- 
 ing to the city walls, (where many gentlemen and lords 
 have their monuments) it would " do moche good 
 emonges her grace's pore savage people in thies partes, 
 that knoweth not decently where to be buryed." 
 
 The house of Friars' Preachers, of which the earl 
 speaks, was called the Monastery of the Minorites, or 
 the Friars of Seandun, or Shandon. It was founded 
 
 13
 
 178 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 by MacCarthy More in 1231, whose tomb stood in 
 the middle of the choir. This convent, on account of 
 its strict discipline, was styled " The Mirror of Ireland?' 
 It stood without the city walls, on the north side of 
 the river. Its site is now occupied by the houses of 
 the North Mall, the vicinity of which is still known 
 as the " North Abbey." 
 
 It was recovered to the church in Mary's reign, from 
 the hands of John Brown and Edmond Gowle, or 
 Gould, and passed in 1562, during the reign of her 
 sister Elizabeth, into those of Andrew Skiddy,* gent. 
 
 " The scite and precinct of the late house of Ffranciscans, neare 
 unto Corke, with the appurtenances, containing one hawle. one 
 kitchen, one cloyster, six chambers, six cellars, one church-yard, 
 one little orchard, and three gardens, the moytie of one water mille, 
 called the Ffrier's milne, and the third part of one watermille there, 
 one fishing place for salmonde, and one salraonde weare, called 
 Gowle's weare, tenn acr of land arr, and x u accr. of pasc. and xxtie 
 ac. of underwood, w th thapp* in the town and fields of Templenam- 
 raher, in the aforesaid County of Cork ; one half acre and one 
 stagne of land arr. in the aforesaid County, and seven gardens, late 
 belonging to the said house, to the said Andrew Skyddye and heyres 
 males of his body, lawfully begotten in Capite per service xx mo 
 parte unius feod mil, rent per annum, ad Recept scij per pmiss 
 rvnj 8 vnj d str. at the feastes of Easter and St. Michaell by even 
 porcons." 
 
 Andrew Skiddy died in 1596, and by an inquisition 
 taken in the April of this year, his son was found 
 seized in Dominico suo ut de feodo de et in cit circuit 
 ambit et precinct nuper monii sine Domus Frini 
 Franciscanse juxta Corke. Skiddy's interest was pur- 
 chased by Richard Boyle, first Earl of Cork. 
 
 Andrew Skiddy. We discover from the State Papers that Joan, Countess 
 of Desmond, and Dowager Countess of Ormond, wrote to the Queen in favor of 
 Andrew Skiddy. The letter is dated from Youghal, April 24th, 1562. She also 
 asks for 600 weights of wheat and malt for her own house.
 
 ST. MART'S OF THE ISLE. 179 
 
 Whilst digging in 1804 for the foundation of the 
 present line of houses on the North Mall, a number of 
 stone coffins were discovered, which no doubt contained 
 the remains of the " many gentlemen and lords" of 
 which the Earl of Desmond speaks. A sceptre is 
 inscribed on one of the coffins, on another, " Sa Alme 
 hait merci" 
 
 A small chapel stood on the site of the monastery, 
 in 1690. In this little chapel the ill-fated James IL 
 heard mass. There is a chalice * belonging to this 
 chapel still in existence, engraved " Dna Margareta 
 Sarsfield me fieri fecit pro Fribus Minoribus de Shandon. 
 Anno Domini 1627. Orate pro ea et pro marito ejus 
 Waltro Coppinger." 
 
 There was an abbey and fraternity of the same order 
 at Timoleague, in which many eminent persons were 
 buried, among whom we may mention Allen Patrick 
 O'Fihelly, in 1505, "famed for his learning," and 
 Edmond Courcy, bishop of Boss, in 1518, who added 
 a library, infirmary, dormitory, and belfry to the 
 original structure, which was founded by William 
 Barry, in the reign of Edward II., though some give 
 the Mac Carthys the credit of the foundation. 
 
 A petition was presented to the queen in 1557, by 
 Kobert Gogan, one of the friar preachers of the 
 convent of Youghal, praying for the restitution of the 
 monastery of St. Mary's of the Island, adjoining the 
 walls of Cork, and partly thrown down. This order 
 of friar preachers, or black friars, settled in Ireland, 
 in 1224. The house on the island in Cork," 1 called 
 
 CJtalice.NT. Windele, writing in 1844, says, the chalice "is in the posses- 
 sion of the Rev. T. R. England, the biographer of the Abbe Edgeworth aud 
 Father Arthur O'Leary." Guide to the South of Inland, p. 72.
 
 180 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 "St. Mary de Insula" was founded by Philip de 
 Barry, whose equestrian bronze statue was preserved 
 till the destruction of the convent. David Mac Kelly, 
 dean of Cashel, and bishop of Cloyne, took the Domini- 
 can habit in this house, as did also Alan 0' Sullivan, 
 bishop of Lismore, and David, archbishop of Cashel, 
 who built for his brethren a beautiful church and 
 abbey near his own cathedral, on the Eock of Cashel. 
 
 The Earl of Desmond's chaplain writes, May, 1558, 
 from London to the old earl and countess, saying he 
 has presented their letters to the Secretary Petre, but 
 has not been introduced to the queen, or able to deliver 
 the letters brought to him by Thomas Fanning, the 
 tailor, of Youghal. He then adds, that he is going to 
 Flanders or Brabant, to see Cardinal Caraffa, the 
 Pope's legate, respecting a dispensation for the mar- 
 riage of their daughter, Onoria, with Mac Carthy 
 More Cardinal Pole, the queen's cousin, not having 
 as yet received his powers. 
 
 "We discover by the queen's letters to the Lord 
 Deputy, that she has been made acquainted with " the 
 Earl of Desmond's large requests," respecting the 
 manor of Dungarvan, and declines to give him a 
 patent until he states more minutely the particulars of 
 his demands. The queen, at the same time, recom- 
 mends that "the earl be treated with circumspection." 
 
 About six months after this, the Lord Deputy 
 writes to the queen " The Earl of Desmond is now 
 certainly dead" This was written on the 31st October, 
 but the earl died on the 14th, at Askeaton, in the 
 county of Limerick. His son Garrett, who succeeded 
 him, is styled " the Great Earl of Desmond," but this
 
 DEATH OF JAMES, EARL OF DESMOND. 181 
 
 James, without doubt, was the greatest of all the earls. 
 His son was great in losing what he was great in 
 winning. He commenced as 4< James the Usurper," 
 and the "Pretended Earl," and died, at an advanced 
 age, as the Lord High Treasurer of Ireland, with his 
 titles fully recognised, and his princely inheritance 
 widely extended. He was the Solomon, and his son 
 Garrett the Rehoboam of his house. 
 
 Queen Mary died on the 1 7th of the next month. 
 There was a manuscript book " brought out of Ireland," 
 just before her death, entitled "Fides Piscorum de 
 veritatc carnis et sanguinis Christi in Sacramento Altaris, 
 quant ab ipsd assensione Dominica semper tenuit Uni- 
 versalis Christi JEcclesia, a vetustissimus auctoribus in 
 suis scriptis nobis relicta" It was in the faith thus 
 expressed that Mary breathed her last. 
 
 Ireland was not destitute of men of letters, either in 
 the catholic or protestant church at this time. Queen 
 Elizabeth writes to Warham St. Leger in December, 
 1559, to send over " the books and writings of John 
 Bale, late Bishop of Ossory, a man that hath byn 
 studious in the search for the history and antiquities 
 of this our realm e, (which he left behind in the time 
 of our late sister, Quene Mary, when he was occasioned 
 to departe out of Ireland,) for the illustration and 
 setting forth of the storye of this our realme, by him 
 the said Bale."
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 GARRETT, STYLED THE GREA.T EARL OF DESMOND. 
 A.D. 1558. 1571. 
 
 THE Earl of Sussex was Lord Deputy of Ireland when 
 Queen Elizabeth ascended the English throne. About 
 eighteen months after this, (May, 1560,) we meet a 
 memorandum for giving him the title of Lord Lieu- 
 tenant. But no titles could reconcile him to the office. 
 He requests the queen to allow the Lord Justice, Sir 
 Henry Sydney, who is now in Ireland, as his locum 
 tenens, or deputy, to hold the office. Sir Henry is popu- 
 lar with the Irish, he is joined in gossopryke with Shane 
 O'Neill ; he will manage the affairs of Ireland, with 
 its present reduced establishment, better than Sussex, 
 who has his wyef and family, and horses in England, 
 he has three offices already, ys ynough occupare totum 
 hominen quite enough for one man. But no, go 
 he must, nolens, volens. There was an idea at this 
 time of placing Ireland, as the Caesars did Palestine, 
 under a tetrarchy. Munster, under the government of 
 the Earl of Warwick, Connaught under Lord Grey, 
 Ulster under the Earl of Sussex, and Leinster under 
 Sir Henry Sydney. Munster was some time alter 
 this placed under the government of a Lord President 
 and Council. During St. Leger's deputy ship, in 1541, 
 the bishop of Cork and Boss, the bishop of Waterford,
 
 HARP MONEY. 183 
 
 and the mayors of Cork and Youghal, were appointed 
 judges and arbitrators of Munster, in all civil and 
 civic affairs. 
 
 The corrupt state of the coinage received a great 
 deal of attention at the commencement of Elizabeth's 
 reign, We meet with numerous letters on the subject. 
 There is a memorandum in February 1559, respecting 
 " Harp money , made for Ireland in the mint in the 
 Tower of London." The harp money has ever been 
 esteemed in Ireland, rather, we conceive, on account 
 of the purity of the metal, than the poetry of the 
 device. Measures were taken in December, 1560, "to 
 prevent the transportation of base English coins into 
 Ireland. There was then an order for making out an 
 estimate of the base money in Ireland, and directions 
 for *' decrying " it, and a proclamation for searching 
 all vessels freighted out of the realm, and if such 
 money be found, to arrest the offending parties. After 
 this comes a memorandum of the things required in 
 the mint in Ireland, for fining the metal, and a note 
 of the charge of fining 60,000 Ibs. weight into fine 
 money. The next entry may appear somewhat strange 
 to the reader. "A gain to the queen's majesty of 
 2,000 sterling, in refining 60, 000 Ibs. weight" of Irish 
 harps.* Eor "refining" we should read adulterating. 
 We must conclude that these Irish harps, minted or 
 cast in the Tower, were recast and somewhat adulterated 
 in the Irish mint. 
 
 A mint was established in Cork in the reign of 
 Edward I. It appears by acts passed, (the llth and 
 
 * " Irish harps" were silver coin that passed for twelve pence in Ireland, and 
 nine pence in England. They bore the queen's head on one side and three harps 
 on the other.
 
 184 HISTORY OF COBK. 
 
 12th of Edward IY.) that a great deal of light and 
 adulterated metal had been coined in Cork. Three 
 coiners, John Fannin, John Crone, and Patrick Martel 
 were indicted, and the Mayor of Cork received instruc- 
 tions, " In case the said coiners do not appear before 
 the Deputy, in parliament, to execute the law on their 
 persons, as traitors attainted." By another aet, (16th 
 Edward IY.) the silver money struck in Cork was 
 " utterly damned" 
 
 Gerald, the second son of James, has taken the oath 
 of allegiance, and has been admitted to the Earldom 
 of Desmond.* He gets a confirmation of the Eegalities 
 of Kerry, to procure which his father offered to enter- 
 tain the judges ; but this does not satisfy him ; he 
 seeks the manor of Dungarvan, and the prize wines of 
 Youghal, and disputes with his step-son, j* the young 
 Earl of Ormond, the right to some property in the 
 county Waterford. The Lord Lieutenant informs the 
 Privy Council of " a contention between the Earls of 
 Desmond and Ormond," and adds, that some speedy 
 order should be taken for their reformation. This 
 contention did not cease till this step-son, known 
 afterwards as the Black Earl of Ormond, sent the gory 
 head of the Earl of Desmond, "pickled in a pipkin," 
 to the queen. But the two men are well matched ; 
 Munster was not wide enough to contain them both. 
 Desmond appears to have been the first assailant. 
 
 * Admitted to the earldom. The document is dated 5th and 6th of Philip and 
 Mary, for the news of Elizabeth's accession had not reached Ireland. It was to 
 Wary, and not to Elizabeth, that this great Catholic and rebel lord swore allegi- 
 ance. 
 
 t Step-ton. Gerald, now Earl of Desmond, married the dowager Conntess of 
 Ormond, whose husband had been poisoned at Ely House. She gave her word 
 and honor to the Lord Chancellor Alcn to remain "sole one yere," but no more.
 
 THE ANGEL OF PEACE. 1S5 
 
 The Lord Lieutenant writes (in 1561) to Desmond, 
 to disperse his power, and remain in peace within his 
 own territories. He replies, that the Earl of Ormond 
 lay in wait to surprise him, on his return from the 
 queen's service. Ormond sends pledges to keep the 
 peace. Desmond refuses tp do so, till he knows the 
 Lord Lieutenant's pleasure ; so they prepare to fight it 
 out, when " the Almighty God sends the Angel of 
 Peace" among them whose visits to Ireland, at this 
 time, were " few and far between." The affair is thus 
 described by the Four Masters : 
 
 "When these noblemen could not be reconciled, 
 they agreed on a certain time to meet in a pitched 
 battle, and the place of battle which they appointed 
 was Bothar-mor^ or " Broad- way," where they might 
 have elbow-room. " Each party collected their forces 
 respectively, of both English and Irish, from Bealach 
 Conglais of the son of Duindesa the Fenian, in the 
 west of the two noble provinces of Munster, to the 
 white-blossomed Barrow, and from the lake of Garman 
 Glas, the son of Bomalica, [Wexford] to the foaming 
 broad harbour of Limerick, in the extremity of Hy- 
 Figinta, and of the Lesser Decies, [in Waterford] to 
 Caoil-an-Chosnamba. After those great armies having 
 met face to face, and front to front, the Almighty God 
 sent the Angel of Peace to them, to establish concord 
 among those forces, and having sensibly reflected 
 concerning that battle, they separated without fighting 
 on that occasion." 
 
 Ormond, the more politic of these two noblemen, 
 endeavours to keep the ear of the Lord Lieutenant, and 
 writes from Kilkenny : " The Earl of Desmond has
 
 186 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 burned a good town and much corn since you departed." 
 The next complaint is for capturing Ormond's servant, 
 near Limerick, and robbing him of five hundred 
 pounds. Nor is he satisfied with making war on 
 Ormond, he attacks the members of his own family : 
 " Maurice Fitz-Desmond and his nephew, the earl, are 
 at hot wars." The Maurice here mentioned is Black 
 Maurice, the freebooter and incendiary, who murdered 
 the Court-Page. His son Thomas, witing to Fitz- 
 william, who is now Lord Chief Justice, complains of 
 the " earl's misuse " of his father, the earl's uncle. 
 
 This Thomas, son of Maurice Duv, or Black Maurice, 
 would not be his father's son, or first cousin to the 
 earl, if he were not fond of fighting. " Thomas and 
 James, the sons of Maurice Duv, marched with a force 
 into Carbery. The son of Mac Carthy Eiavach and 
 Turlough Mac Sweeny, with a party of galloglasses, 
 attacked the plunderers." They pursued them as far 
 as Innishannon, on the Bandon river. The Carbrians 
 were victors. Two or three hundred of the Geraldines 
 were either slain or drowned. It was on this occasion 
 that Turlough Mac Sweeny lost a hand and foot, and 
 was obliged to use a wooden leg to carry him to his 
 death.* Thomas, the leader of the Geraldines, died 
 about two years after this. The father's death is thus 
 described by the Four Masters : 
 
 "A.D. 1564. Maurice Duv, the son of John, went 
 to take a prey in Muskerry. Dermot and Cormac, the 
 sons of Teige Mac Carthy, overtook and beheaded 
 Maurice." Other writers say, those who were left to 
 
 To his death. Turlough Mac Sweeny, " of (he icooden leg" fell by the hand 
 of Brian Mac Sweeny, at the gate of Cork, in 1579.
 
 DEATH OF BLACK MAUKICE. 187 
 
 guard him fell on him and slew him. Thus died 
 Maurice Duv, or Maurice Tothaire, "the Freebooter." 
 He resided at Carrigaline castle, in this county. The 
 Four Masters style him "The high-tempered steel 
 of the Geraldines, the plunderer of his enemies, the 
 slayer of his opponents." They place his death in 
 their annals two years later than it is recorded in the 
 State Papers. 
 
 The queen, who held the Earl of Desmond respon- 
 sible not only for his own conduct but that of his 
 house, demanded his presence in England. Fitzwilliam 
 writes him about Ormond's five hundred pounds, and 
 hints that his delay in answering the queen's lettre de 
 cachet, must seem strange. He asks if he shall 
 meet him at Waterford. The earl screws up his 
 courage, and promises to go ; so the Chief Justice 
 prepares a proclamation for the safety of Desmond 
 during bis absence, and the mayor, bailiffs, and council 
 of Youghal write, commending him to the queen, telling 
 of the protection he has given them, and how he drove 
 out a den of thieves from a castle four miles up the 
 river* when who should cross his path, and decide 
 his doom, but a messenger from the famous Shane 
 O'Neill, who is in rebellion, and desires the aid of an 
 Irish chieftain to put the South in the same commotion 
 as he has put the North. The earl hesitates. A new 
 idea has struck him, so he begins to build a castle in 
 Lord Eoche's country. Fitzwilliam writes to Cecil of 
 
 * A castle four miles up the river. The castle, we suspect, of Ehincrvw, or the 
 " Firm Promontory," about four miles above Youghal, on the Blackwater. It is 
 supposed to have been possessed by the order of Knights Templars. Raymond 
 Le Gros, who is believed to have been the founder of Rhincrcw, died here, and 
 was buried in the neighbouring Abbey of Molana. The ruins are still extensive, 
 containing chapel, cloisters, refectory, kitchen and dormitories.
 
 188 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 "Desmond's facteous intention of building a castle," 
 and to Desmond, to hasten his journey. The earl sends 
 Patrick Meagh, late sovereign of Kinsale, to England, 
 to spy out, or pave the way. Meagh carries an -address 
 from the council of Kinsale to the queen, which states 
 that the Earl of Desmond is their only help and 
 security against the disorders of the country, and 
 entreats her majesty to " animate" him by her favor, 
 on his present repair to her presence. To do him jus- 
 tice, he was never wanting in animation. 
 
 He goes, and as he might have suspected, is " seques- 
 tered from his liberty," in the house of the Lord 
 Treasurer of England. But the queen is kind to 
 him, and writes to his wife, Joan ; and gets him to 
 swear to which he never objected in his life that he 
 will confine himself to his own kin and his own affairs, 
 in the counties of Cork, Limerick, Kerry, and Water- 
 ford, and no longer molest the " Lord Great Barry, 
 the Lord Eoche, Little Barry, Barry Eoe, the Lord 
 Courcy, the Lord Fitzmaurice, Sir Maurice Fitzgerald, 
 Mac Carthy More, Mac Carthy Eeagh, Teig Cormac 
 Mac Carthy, O'Sullivan Beare, O'Sullivan More, 
 O'Donoghue, O'Callaghan, and others, which oath he 
 faithfully promises to observe. He also promises the 
 hypocrite to assist the protestant bishop in the fur- 
 therance of religion. But her most gracious majesty, 
 knowing his weak point, and many temptations, fur- 
 nished him with a bill, in the way of reminder, 
 entitled, " Book of the debt of the old Earl of Desmond, 
 and of Gerald, the new Earl of Desmond, for rents 
 and possessions held of the crown, 1,386 10s. 8d." 
 Perhaps it was to meet this that he sued Ormond for
 
 GARRETT IN LONDON. 169 
 
 4,000, "as the forfeiture of a bond that he would 
 marry his sister." 
 
 He procured the queen's pardon on the 21st of 
 July, 1562, at Greenwich, for all his murders, man- 
 slaughters, and felonies, and is ready, on his return, to 
 recommence his raids with a clear conscience. But 
 he is still detained in London. Cecil wishes some 
 explanation from him respecting the prize wines of 
 Youghal and Kinsale, and he has none to give, save 
 and except that he views them as his rightful inheri- 
 tance. He asks permission to return to Ireland, or 
 Bristol ; says he has no money to support his retinue, 
 and seeks passports for " Sir Dorby probably Darby 
 the sty ward ; Andrew Skiddy, and thirty-seven others, 
 the Earl of Desmond's servants." 
 
 He is detained so long in England, that John his bro- 
 ther, and Joan his wife, take the field against the queen, 
 in 15G3, and render Munster too hot for her deputy. 
 This was the invariable policy when any of these great 
 Irish lords were either detained, or entertained, too 
 long in England, be their place of residence the Tower, 
 the house of the Lord Treasurer, or Hampton Court. 
 The Lord Lieutenant and Council, writing to the 
 queen, inform her that Nicholas Heron and Edward 
 Fitzsymon have delivered " a perfect look " of the 
 hurts committed by the Countess of Desmond, and John, 
 the earl's brother. The Lord Koche, Lord Barry, Sir 
 Maurice of Desmond, Teig Cormac, and others, have 
 received "great hurts." The city of Cork is also 
 disturbed. The mayor, bailiffs, and commons of Cork 
 speak of their exposed position, and ask to be protected 
 from pirates, rovers, and malefactors generally.
 
 190 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Immediately after this we find a letter from the 
 earl, thanking Cecil for his enlargement. He should 
 rather have thanked his good wife, Joan, and his brave 
 brother, John. But this enlargement did not allow of 
 his leaving England, for he writes Cecil, (July 4th, 
 1563,) that "the continued craving of his creditors" 
 prevents his repair to court, and asks for a loan of 
 six hundred pounds.! He requests Sir T. Cusake " to 
 further his speedy return," and the month after informs 
 Cecil that he is very sick and low low in health and 
 pocket and has not four pounds in the world, and 
 fears he will be arrested by his creditors, on his journey 
 home, which he requests the secretary's services to 
 prevent. To be a prisoner in the hands of the queen is 
 bad enough. He is released in time to spend his 
 Christmas in Ireland, which he gains in despite of his 
 creditors and his hereditary foe, the Earl of Ormond, 
 for we find him on the 20th of December, writing to 
 the Irish Council, informing them that the Irish chiefs 
 will not yield to the " proposed civility," and asking 
 for ordnance and skilful gunners to batter down their 
 forts and castles. He desires license to apprehend 
 malefactors within the liberties of Cork, and other 
 chartered towns, and asks for the manor of Dungarvan, 
 Onought, a castle called Ynyshanon, and the reversion 
 of divers abbey lands. 
 
 We meet a document in the calender of the State 
 Papers, (No 74, December 20, 1563,) entitled "orders 
 to be taken by the Earl of Desmond, for such things 
 as he hath voluntarily accorded, and are by him to be 
 observed in Munster," amongst which we find the 
 abolition of brehon laws, the suppression of rhymers,
 
 GARRETT RETURNS TO IRELAND. 191 
 
 bards, and dice-players, and the payment of fnurpence 
 a cow, annually to the queen. The queen seems ambi- 
 tious to walk in the footsteps of Brian Boru. Brian, 
 son of Kennedy, gained the title of Brian Boru, or 
 Boroinihe,* or " Brian of the Tribute," by the impo- 
 sition of his cow tribute upon Leinster. 
 
 The Earl of Desmond, writing to the Marquis of 
 Winchester, the High Treasurer of England, says, he 
 has met the queen's commissioners in Cork, and that 
 the country is willing to perform the articles agreed 
 to by him in England. He informs Cecil, by the same 
 messenger, July 26th, that his proceedings with the 
 queen's commissioners have been most satisfactory. 
 
 The accounts from other quarters of the earl's pro- 
 ceedings were not quite so satisfactory. Sir T. Wrothe 
 informs Cecil of his having burned two houses, in an 
 attempt to take the castle of Kilfeacle,f in the county 
 Tipperary. Ormond writes to Cecil to say, that her 
 majesty's subjects under Desmond's rule, are daily 
 invaded by the Earl, his brother John, and their retinue, 
 that he (the Earl of Ormond,) was on the very point of 
 removing the " dam'd impost of coyne and livery," J 
 when the earl's invasions compelled him to continue 
 one evil, in order to meet another. He writes again, 
 (December 4th, 1564,) complaining that his "tenants 
 are spoiled by the earl of Desmond," asking letters to 
 the Lord Justice " to stay the said earl." 
 
 * Brian Boru or Boroimhe. We find in the presentment of a Cork jury, a com- 
 plaint that Owen Mac Carthy and Douuell Mac Carthy, " take of the same free- 
 holders and inhabitants a sum of money called cowe." 
 
 \-Kilfeacle There are the remains of the castles of Grantstown and Castlefield, 
 in this parish, to the present day. 
 
 + Coyne and Livery. This impost had been frequently condemned by the 
 English government, and Irish lords forbidden to levy it.
 
 192 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 As this was more than any Lord Justice in Ireland 
 could do, the Earl of Ormond united with Sir Maurice 
 Fitzgerald, knight, of Dromona,* in the county Water- 
 ford, who lived " between the Earls of Ormond and 
 Desmond," to lay a trap to catch him. The trap was 
 set at Affane, where Sir Walter Ealeigh first planted 
 cherries. The affair is thus described by the Four 
 Masters : 
 
 " A.D. 1565. It happened on a certain expedition, the Earl of 
 Desmond, i.e. Gerald, the son of James, son of John, had made into 
 the Decies of Munster, that the lord of Decies, namely, Maurice, 
 the son of Gerald, son of John, sent treacherously for the Earl of 
 Ormond, namely Thomas, the son of James, son of Pierce Roe, in 
 order that he might lie in ambush for the Earl of Desmond. The 
 earl (of Desmond) having come to the country, he never perceived 
 until he was surrounded on all sides at a place called Ath Mead- 
 hain ; the large body of the ambushed troops attacked, wounded, 
 and took him prisoner, and a great number of his people were 
 either slain or taken prisoners along with him. The Butlers were 
 full of joy and gladness, on account of the great booty and the 
 number of prisoners they had taken on that day, and the result of 
 that capture was, that the two earls went to England, by command 
 of the queen, and having remained for some time in London, they 
 returned back in peace and friendship. 
 
 The Earl of Desmond was wounded in the thigh by 
 a pistol shot from Sir Edward Butler, and was lame 
 the rest of his life. When the Butlers were bearing 
 him on their shoulders from the field!, one of them 
 tauntingly asked, ' Where is the great Earl of Des- 
 mond now?" "On the necks of the Butlers, where 
 he ought to be," was his ready and witty reply. 
 
 Dromona, the residence of Sir John Fitzgerald, the father of the old 
 Countess of Desmond. It is in the Decies country, on the northern hank of the 
 Elackwater. The present residence of Lord Stuart de Decies is on the site, and 
 incorporated with the old castle. Nothing can be more beautiful than the 
 demesne and the land up and down the river.
 
 193 
 
 The Four Masters say that Desmond and Ormond 
 went to England by command of the queen, and 
 returned "in peace and friendship." They went to 
 London to criminate each other, but did not return in 
 friendship. Desmond was accompanied by Mac Carthy 
 More and 0' Sullivan Beare, who wrote to Cecil from 
 Liverpool for travelling expenses. Ormond was accom- 
 panied by Sir Maurice Fitzgerald, of Dromana, whose 
 evidence went to shew that no trap had been laid by 
 Black Ormond for the Earl of Desmond ; that Ormond 
 went to Affane in order to protect Fitzgerald's cattle. 
 Fitzgerald, on his own account, petitions the queen 
 against the impositions and exactions of Desmond on 
 the Decies' country, which he holds in fee from the 
 queen only.* 
 
 The Earl of Essex also makes some very serious 
 charges against the Earl of Desmond that he had 
 refused to deliver up offenders ; that he had aided 
 rebels against the Earl of Thomond ; that he had done 
 violence to Lords Eoche, Barry, Mac Carthy More, 
 Teige Mac Cormac, and many others ; that, in fact, he 
 had never served the queen faithfully, and that Ormond 
 had ever done so. Similar testimony is borne by 
 others. There are charges and counter charges, fines, 
 and articles for future good conduct, with many queenly 
 injunctions not to fall out for the future. 
 
 It was at this time (1565) that Mac Carthy More 
 and 'Sullivan Beare, who accompanied the Earl of 
 Desmond to London, were created, the former an earl, 
 and the latter a knight. Mac Carthy More's new title 
 
 * The qiteen only. " The whole land 83 far as Waterford, together with the 
 city ot Lismore," and everything betweeen Waterford and Lismore, is reserved 
 to the crown, in the charter of Henry II., already quoted. 
 
 14
 
 194 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 was under consideration six or seven years before it 
 was conferred. We have it among lt Instructions" from 
 the queen, dated Greenwich, July 16th, 1559, "Mac 
 Carthy More to be advanced to some degree of honor." 
 The queen, writing to the Earl of Sussex (May, 1561), 
 says, " That Mac Carthy More is not to be created an 
 earl ; but O'Keilly is to be made Earl O'Reilly ; and in 
 July, Sussex acknowledges the receipt of " robes, col- 
 lars, and coronets," for O'Keilly and O'Donnell. When 
 Shane O'Neill heard that Mac Carthy had submitted to 
 the queen, and received the title of earl, he said, " I 
 keep a lacquey as noble as he. Let him enjoy his 
 honor, it is not worthy of O'Neill." We shall see by 
 and bye that Mac Carthy More repudiated his new title. 
 
 Mac Carthy More took the prescribed oath, and did 
 homage to the queen, as Baron of Valentia, and Earl 
 of Clancare. He shortly after addressed the Earl of 
 Leicester to use his influence with the queen to obtain 
 for him the loan of 600, and an annual fee out of the 
 exchequer, or land within the pale, " as is customary 
 for newly-created earls." 
 
 Sir Owen O'Sullivan Beare also sends in his little 
 petition, for the loan of 200, and hopes there will be 
 no mistake in the wording of his new patent ; that the 
 lands of Beare and Bantry, with its towns and castles, 
 including an area of forty-two miles in length, and 
 twenty-four in breadth, will be properly described. 
 The Earl of Clancare hearing this, petitions the queen, 
 that the services due by O'Sullivan Beare to him as 
 lord paramount, should not be passed over in general 
 words, but fully expressed. He encloses " a schedule 
 of the services, rents, duties, and demands, Sir Owen
 
 COSHERING. 195 
 
 O'Sullivan Beare, and his heirs, ought to pay the 
 Earl of Clancare." Every time MacCarthy More 
 thought proper to go to Berehaven, O'Sullivan had to 
 provide entertainment for him and his followers, for 
 two days and nights. He must also send provender to 
 Pallace,* for Mac Carthy More's riding horses, and 
 pay 3s. 4d. to his groom, and Is. 8d. to his huntsman, 
 yearly, out of every arable ploughland.f He was also 
 expected to feed his hounds, greyhounds, and spaniels, 
 when they came in his way. This habit was called 
 coshering. In a State Paper for 1534, (No. 69J we 
 read : 
 
 "Item The said Erles of Desmond, Kildar, and 
 Ossery, their wiffis, childryne, and servauntes, do use, 
 afftyr the custumbe and usage off wyld Irysh men, to 
 cum with a gret multitude of peple to monasteries and 
 gentylmenys howsis, and ther to contynu 2 dais and 2 
 nightes, taking met and drink at ther plesurs, and ther 
 horssis and kepers to be sheifftyd and dyoydyt un the 
 pore fermors, next to that place adjoynyng, paieng 
 nothing therefor, so as they be found, in thys maner, 
 in other men is howsis moo then halff the yere, by this 
 wyld Irysh custume off extorcion, and spare ther own 
 howsis." 
 
 Stanihurst describes the practice thus : " Their 
 noblemen and noblemen's tenants now and then make 
 
 * Pallace. " The word pailis is generally applied to old forts, in the sense of 
 palace of the fairies "Dr. 0" Donovan, The Castle of Pallace, otherwise Caislean 
 na Cartha, the residence of Mac Carthy More, stood on an eminence to the north 
 of the lower Lake of Killarney, near the entrance to the gap of Dunloe. The 
 field in front is still called Park-an-eroh, the "gallows field," that being tho 
 place where the Mac Carthy executed justice I The castle was destroyed in 1837 
 by a road -jobber. See Windde's Guide, p. 387. 
 
 t Ploughland.Tte " summer oats " for each ploughland was restricted to a 
 bushel, or a bushel and a half, but it was often demanded in greater quantity.
 
 196 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 [take] a feast, which they call coshering, whereto flock 
 all their retainers, their rhymers, their bards, their 
 harpers, that feed them with music. In their coshering 
 they sit upon straw, they are served on straw, and lie 
 upon mattrasses and pallets of straw. They observe 
 divers degrees, according to which each man is re- 
 garded. The basest [lowest] sort among them are the 
 little young wags" 
 
 On the 7th of December, 1566, "the Earls of 
 Ormond and Desmond are reconciled, and licensed to 
 depart towards Ireland, and to confer with the 
 Deputy," Sir Henry Sydney. Sir Henry was appointed 
 on the 22nd of June, 1565. The Earl of Desmond 
 is not to depart from Dublin when he gets there 
 he has not got there yet till he pays what he 
 owes the queen and her subjects. The murderers 
 of the earl's uncle, Sir Maurice of Desmond, are 
 to be tried and punished ; the earl to be provided 
 with a safe guard to come and go, and the out- 
 rages committed by John of Desmond, the earl's 
 brother, on Sir Maurice Fitzgerald's tenants, to be 
 redressed. Means are to be adopted to make peace 
 between the two earls, and between the Earl of 
 Desmond and Sir Maurice of Dromana. They are all 
 to pay up their arrears of rent and borrowed money 
 the severest punishment, with the exception of confis- 
 cation or imprisonment, that could have been inflicted. 
 But the Earl of Desmond manages it somehow, for 
 on the llth of January, 1566, he hath taken good 
 order with all his creditors, and goes to take leave of 
 the queen and the nobility; but the queen is not 
 prepared to take leave of him. More than three months
 
 TOM STUKELY. 197 
 
 have rolled by, and we read, April 25th, " the Earl of 
 Desmond is detained in London." 
 
 There was reason for this no doubt. Shane O'Neill 
 had assumed a more threatening aspect. He was in 
 correspondence with Charles IX. King of France, and 
 his Prime Minister, the Cardinal of Lorraine. In this 
 correspondence, he makes mention of the earl's deten- 
 tion in London, the warlike character of his brother 
 John, the claims of Mary Queen of Scots to the English 
 crown, and the necessity of all true catholics uniting 
 in a treaty against Elizabeth. All this had been 
 discovered by the council, which Shane had desig- 
 nated *' stupid." Cecil was more than a match for 
 Shane. Just at this time, Mary Queen of Scots has 
 been delivered of a child, but whether it be a knave 
 child* or a lass, is not yet known. Under all these 
 circumstances, it was deemed more prudent to detain 
 the Earl of Desmond a little longer in London. 
 Besides all this, there was a very suspicious character, 
 called Tom Study, or Stukely, and by Miss Porter, in 
 her " Don Sebastian " Sir Thomas Stukely, going up 
 and down the country, of whom we may have occasion 
 to speak more at large by and bye. 
 
 The case was very different with the Earl of Ormond ; 
 he was in the confidence of Cecil, and in high odour 
 with the queen, " in memory of his education with 
 that holly yong Sallomon, King Edward YL," so much 
 so, that Sydney is suspected of partiality to the Earl 
 of Desmond, for indicting Sir Edmond Butler, who 
 had unlawfully imposed coin and livery. Her majesty 
 
 * A knave child. In a translation of the New Testament, made about thif 
 time, the Apostle Paul (Rom. i. 1) styles himself, " Paul, the knave of Jesttt 
 Ctrist."
 
 198 HISTORY OP COBK. 
 
 is displeased, and gives her Deputy a check for indict- 
 ing a Butler, which causes a report that coin and 
 livery are to be reimposed. There is also a report that 
 Sydney is in disgrace, which he confirms by desiring 
 to be recalled. 
 
 Shane O'Neill writes in the meantime to John, the 
 earl's brother, that it is the object of the English 
 government to root out both Celt and Anglo-Norman ; 
 but they have no luck in war ; now or never is the 
 time to unite against them. The Earl of Desmond , 
 who has just returned to Ireland, (1566) replies to 
 this invitation by uniting with the Deputy in a general 
 hosting against O'Eeilly, who appears to have joined 
 the great rebel of the north, notwithstanding his new 
 English title of Earl O'Reilly. 
 
 The year 1567 is memorable for the Lord Deputy, 
 Sir Henry Sydney's tour through Munster, which 
 occupied eleven weeks and two days. He was met on 
 this occasion by the Earl of Clancare and Sir Owen 
 O'Sullivan Beare, " although prohibited by the Earl 
 of Desmond " by Sir Donough M'Carthy or McCarthy 
 Reagh, captain of Carbery, and Sir Dermot McCarthy, 
 captain of Cork, " verie greate possessioners in that 
 county," who complained of the flagrant injuries and 
 injustice of the Earl of Desmond ; that, in fact, they 
 who should be free subjects had become his " thralls 
 and slaves." Sydney, though ever so well disposed to 
 befriend Desmond, could not shut his eyes " on viewe 
 of the bones and skulles of your ded subjectes, who 
 partelie by murder, partelie by famyn, have died in 
 the feldes, as in troth hardelie any Christian with drie 
 eies coulde beholde. There were certeyne porr women
 
 THE EARL OF DESMOND ARRESTED. 199 
 
 soughte to have been rescewed, but to late, yet so sone 
 after the horrible facte committed, as their children 
 were felte and scene to sturre in the bodies of their 
 ded mothers ; and yet did the Earl of Desmond lodge 
 and banckett, after the facte committed, in the howse 
 of the murderer, a principall servaunte of his." 
 
 Sydney had to put down those raids, burnings, and 
 murders with a high hand. " I write not the names 
 of each particular yarlet that hath died since I arrived, 
 as well by the ordinary course of the law, as flat 
 fighting with them, when they would take food without 
 the good will of the giver, for I think it no stuff worthy 
 the loading of my letters with ; but I do assure you 
 the number of them is great, and some of the lest, 
 and the rest tremble ; for most part they fight for their 
 dinner, and many of them lose their heads before they 
 be served with supper. Down they go in every corner, 
 and down they shall go, God willing " MSS. Cot. 
 Titus B. x. 
 
 We are not surprised to hear that the earl, who 
 had wrought so much evil, had been arrested* by 
 one who had previously acted as his friend, who 
 had suffered in the queen's estimation for defending 
 him ; for those who have read the State Papers with 
 attention can come to but one conclusion concerning 
 this earl, and that is, that he was a violent and lad man. 
 The Lord Power, the Lord of Dunboyne, Yiscount 
 Baltinglass, and Sir Maurice Fitz-Thomas were arrested 
 at the same time, and carried to Dublin. The queen 
 writes to have Desmond indicted, and if need be, 
 
 * Arrested." The Earl of Desmond was taken prisoner at Cill Mocheallog 
 [Kilmallock] by the Lord Justice, who conveyed him to Limerick, from thence 
 to Galway, to Athlone, and finally to Dublin." Four Masters, A.L. 1567.
 
 200 HISTORY OF COBK. 
 
 arraigned and condemned, but " at all events indicted." 
 The earl writes to the queen, asserting his immaculate 
 innocence, and bewailing his want of education to 
 defend himself. He also writes to the privy council, 
 saying, he had hoped the Deputy would have taken 
 him to England. The queen writes the Deputy to 
 have the earl and his brother, Sir John of Desmond, 
 sent over. But Sir John is at large, so a trap is laid 
 to ensnare him. He gets permission to visit the earl, 
 and is seized, and the two brothers are transported to 
 England. John becomes sick at Lichfield, so the earl 
 writes to Cecil, desiring to be satisfied as to her 
 majesty's pleasure respecting their future residence, 
 which, in the end, proved to be the Tower. 
 
 The charges brought against the earl in 1568, were 
 principally for disloyalty in entertaining proclaimed 
 traitors. Cahir O' Conor swore that he, a proclaimed 
 traitor, had been entertained while passing through the 
 earl's country. The earl's servant, Donough, had acted 
 as guide to some of these traitors. Andrew Skiddy, 
 recorder of Cork, who seems to have been in favor 
 with Cecil, denied all knowledge of traitors having 
 been entertained by the earl. Skiddy wrote to Cecil 
 at this time to obtain letters from the queen in his 
 favor, to the mayor of Cork, to grant him his office of 
 recorder for life, with an increase of 10 a-year to his 
 salary. Cecil replies, that Skiddy has been malapert, 
 and has used counterfeit diligence for the Earl of 
 Desmond, which Skiddy indignantly denies. 
 
 The earl's brother, Sir John of Desmond, was 
 charged with carrying on some secret and treasonable 
 intercourse with Shane O'Neill against the queen's
 
 ;OMMISSIONERS SENT TO MUtfSTEB, 201 
 
 government. Andrew Skiddy and Richard Creagh, 
 the titular Archbishop of Armagh, who had lately come 
 from Borne, and was at this time a prisoner in the 
 Tower, were examined on this charge, without eliciting 
 anything of importance. Jacques Wingfield was also 
 examined " concerning the confession of a little friar," 
 who had been a messenger between Shane O'Neill, the 
 Earl of Desmond, and his brother John. The earl 
 denied the charges made in the first twenty-two arti- 
 cles, but confessed to the siege of Kilfeacle, and 
 having taken goods in Kilshelan for a distress. Des- 
 mond asserts his authority, as Lord Palatine, to rule 
 all Geraldines in Munster. In all causes between two 
 Geraldines he held that he should be judge ; but these 
 prerogatives or powers he was now required to resign. 
 He had no choice, while a prisoner in the Tower, but 
 to do so. He is even content that her majesty should 
 take from him a portion of his lands and liberties for 
 the more quiet government of the realm. 
 
 Commissioners were appointed to govern Munster 
 during the earl's imprisonment. They arrive in Cork, 
 where they write, January 14th, 1568, to the Lords 
 Justices. "Wood kerne, under Gerot Bracke, one 
 of the Earl of Desmond's near kinsmen, intercepted our 
 letters, certain kerne lay in ambush for us, but Lord 
 Barrymore and John Fitz-Edmund, Dean of Cloyne, 
 met us, and led us to Barry's Court." They had a 
 dangerous and wet journey, and when they got to 
 Cork, none of the Munster chieftains came to meet 
 them. The Countess of Desmond wrote them, January 
 1 1th, from Kilmallock: "the country is in such disorder 
 that few can trust a father, a son, or a brother." She
 
 202 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 herself, could hardly abide two days in one place, 
 trudging by day, and partly by night, endeavouring 
 to appease their lewd attempts. The inhabitants have 
 been so bruised that she cannot take up the duties of 
 her husband's present need. 
 
 Her husband, the earl, seems to have been in need 
 of everything. He writes to Cecil, February 8th, 
 1568, asking for a " table," and furniture for a chamber 
 in the Tower, the charges whereof he will pay to her 
 majesty at a convenient time. He writes on the 26th 
 of August, to both Cecil and the Duke of Norfolk, for 
 " more liberty '' in the Tower his brother is sick 
 with a new ague and the loan of 100. To his 
 astonishment he gets the 100, and will never be 
 unmindful of Cecil's courtesy Timeo Danaos et dona 
 ferentes. The very next month the queen instructs 
 her deputy in Ireland, to take order that the revenues 
 of the Earl of Desmond, and Sir John, now prisoners 
 in the Tower, be sequestered for their charges, and 
 order taken for their sustenance during their imprison- 
 ment. We meet next with a certificate of the earl's 
 yearly rents, and then with a sum of 50 for the earl's 
 apparel, was this a tailor's bill ? and then with a 
 letter from the earl, on the 1st of November, in which 
 he complains of the " cold of the Tower," and asks for 
 some "honest house," where he may have convenient 
 lodging and sure keeping. In December, he begs, as 
 he has almost recovered his health, that he may go to 
 some place in the Tower, where his friends may visit 
 him. 
 
 We meet with no less than twenty letters dated the 
 18th of November, 1568, but as three of these are
 
 THE EARL MAKES HIS SUBMISSION. 203 
 
 addressed to one person, his wife, we conclude they 
 were not all written the same day. He tells the 
 countess to be advised by the Lord Deputy, Sir Warham 
 St. Leger, and Andrew Skiddy, recorder of Cork. He 
 writes Lord Koche on behalf of his man, David Leche, 
 long kept in duress. He now felt what it was to be 
 a prisoner. He requests Skiddy not to slack in his 
 counsel and advice to the countess, and requires 
 Donough M'Crahe to deliver up the manor and castle 
 of Mocollop to his father, John M'Crahe. The 
 same things are repeated over and over again, and in 
 many of the letters he asks for money, and complains 
 to his wife that the "chancellor of Limerick" has 
 kept back his money, and tells Andrew Skidmour, 
 gent., in the city of Cork, not to fail to declare how 
 Sir Donoghowe Casseihe, the chancellor of Limerick, 
 has acted. 
 
 The earl and his brother John were allowed to make 
 their submission this year, 1568, and became bound in 
 the sum of 20,000 each for the due performance of 
 the articles of submission. But they still remained 
 prisoners. 
 
 Munster was at this period in a very disturbed state. 
 Mr. Jacques Wingfield, writing to Cecil, says, the 
 queen's lands in Cork and Limerick are utterly waste, 
 without a person to inhabit there. He speaks of the 
 extortions of Thomas Roe,* of Desmond, the bastard 
 brother of the earl, and his cousin, James Fitzmaurice, 
 who made a raid into Kerry, which caused the Earl of 
 Clancare to retaliate, by entering Cork and spoiling 
 
 * Thomas Roe, of Desmond, was no bastard, but the eldest son of James th 
 Usurper, by Joan, the daughter of Lord Roche.
 
 204 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Lord Eoche, who writes, September 14th, from Castle- 
 town, "The Earl of Clancarty, accompanied by M'Do- 
 noky, O'Kyve, M'Auly, O'Donocowe More, O'Sullivan 
 More's son, Edmond M'Swyny, and others, with six or 
 seven banners displayed, has taken l,500kine, burned 
 7,000 sheep, all his corn, and a great number of men, 
 women, and children." He therefore desires " a com- 
 mission to hurt the said earl." 
 
 The Lords Justices write to the Earl of Clancare of 
 the horrible excesses complained of by Lord Eoche, 
 trust they are not altogether true, and command him 
 to make restitution to the extent of the injury done. 
 They speak of Lord Eoche's loyalty ; say that his ser- 
 vices merit the protection of the government, and call 
 upon Lord Barry More, Sir Dermot Mac Teig, the 
 mayor of Cork, the sheriff of the county of Cork, the 
 sovereigns of Kilmallock and Kinsale, to aid the Lord 
 Eoche against Clancare. Such a call to arms was 
 eminently calculated to foment the dissensions and 
 civil war which the government professed to discoun- 
 tenance, but England possessed no other means of 
 punishing violence or rebellion. 
 
 Mac Carthy More for he at this time, 1569, repu- 
 diated his new title * of Earl of Clancare was medi- 
 tating rebellion, and carrying on an intercourse with 
 Spain. One John Corbine, who had received a safe 
 pass to travel through his kingdom of Kerry, made 
 some important revelations to Cecil. The south-west 
 coast was much frequented by Spaniards. Every year 
 two hundred sail "fysheth there, and caryeth away 
 
 * Repudiated his new title. "Mac Carthy More, who refuseth the new title 
 of Earl, and is offended with any one that calleth him Earl of Clancare. Mayor 
 of Cork to Sydney.
 
 MAC CARTHT MORfi's RISING. 205 
 
 2000 beyffs, hydes, and tallow. No due to the queen's 
 majestic knowen." Two Spanish ships, with arms, 
 were expected at Easter. The Mac Sweeneys had 
 galleys which might prove useful to an invading foe. 
 
 Mac Carthy Beagh, James Fitz-Edmund, and others, 
 were on the qui-vive, waiting the word to start into 
 actual rebellion. It was reported that the Earl of 
 Desmond had sent word to his people to unite with 
 the other Irish chieftains in throwing off the English 
 yoke. Andrew Skiddy, writing to the Lord Deputy, 
 says, " Yesterday, Mac Carthy More, whom I dare 
 not name an earl, and James Fitzmaurice, spoiled all 
 the inhabitants of Kerrycurrihy, and the farm Sir 
 Warham Sentleger has of the Earl of Desmond, and 
 laid siege to the abbey of Tracton." The mayors and 
 councils of Cork, Youghal, and Kinsale also write. 
 The Lady Ursula St. Leger, who is besieged by the 
 rebels in the castle of Carrigaline, writes the Deputy to 
 this effect : " On Wednesday, Sir Warham St. Leger, 
 the sheriff of Cork, left for England. The next morn- 
 ing James Fitzmaurice, with 4000 men, spoiled Kerry- 
 currihy ; on Friday they took Tracton, and slew John 
 Enchedon and all his men ; on Saturday they laid siege 
 to the castle of Carrigaline." Jaspar Horsey, writing, 
 says, "St. Warham St. Leger's tall ship* is threat- 
 ened." Sydney did not lose an hour in marching to the 
 lady's relief. Most opportune, he found four hundred 
 newly arrived troops in Cork. He followed the rebels 
 from Cork to Buttevant, and from Buttevant to Kil- 
 mallock, which was burnt before his arrival. The 
 
 St. Warham St. Leger's tall ship. The district farmed by St. Leger under 
 the Earl of Desmond, was called De Cogan's ship. It is to a great extent sur- 
 rounded by water.
 
 206 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 mayor and corporation of Cork inform Sydney, that 
 the rebels brag they will take Cork and Kinsale, that 
 help cometh from Spain, and that the Butlers, who 
 boast of their loyalty, are of the rebel confederacy. 
 All the corporate towns are in terror, writing hard for 
 soldiers, fire-arms, and barrels of gunpowder ; and not 
 without cause, for that great rebel leader, of whom we 
 shall hear more by-and-bye, writes to the mayor and 
 corporation of Cork, " to aboolissh oute of that cittie 
 that old heresy newely raised and invented, and 
 namely, Barnaby Daaly, and all therein that be Hug- 
 nettes, boothe men and woomen, and Greynvile's wife 
 and his children." Grenville was united with St. 
 Leger in the government of the city and province, and 
 was, we conclude, absent at this time. St. Leger, who 
 is too sick to leave his house at Southwark, London, 
 sends Cecil letters, dated 1569, from his wife from 
 Carrigaline, and adds, " It is better the queen should 
 spend 40,000, than that Cork should be lost." He 
 proposed to the privy council to raise 10,000 on his 
 lands in England, in order to equip a force of 1,500 
 men, at his own charge, " for evicting lands from 
 rebels and traitors, to the value of 1,000 a-year." 
 
 This rising was not confined to Cork and Kerry. 
 The mayor and corporation of Waterford write, that 
 good subjects in the, country were forced by the rebels 
 to join. They who refused were not only spoiled of 
 kine and garrans, but driven naked to the city gates, 
 u not sparing, a most shameful thing to be reported, 
 to use the honest huswives of the countrey in like 
 manner." They were tormented with more cruel pains 
 than " eyther Phalaris, or any of the old tyrants, cowld
 
 207 
 
 invent." "We find a Pierce Butler among the rebels, 
 preying on Callan, and robbing Fulk Quemerford. 
 The urbs Intacta, or city of Waterford itself, did not 
 behave in the handsomest manner to Sydney, when 
 lying before Clonmel, for it refused bim, with rudeness, 
 the aid of a few soldiers in his emergency. It is 
 true that it endeavoured to efface the impression 
 by subsequent civility, but the Deputy did not fail 
 to remind them of their previous bad conduct. There 
 were a few Irish noblemen who preserved their loyalty 
 unsuspected during this rebellion, foremost among 
 whom we may mention, Lord Roche and the Lord 
 Barry. The Viscount of Decies told the rebels to do 
 their worst, that he would be a true servant to the 
 queen. 
 
 There was at this time a report that forty Spanish 
 ships had arrived at " Dinglishe," or Dingle, but these 
 reports were so frequent, that like that of the boy who 
 cried " wolf !" they failed to excite alarm. Most of the 
 Anglo-Norman, and some of the Irish lords and chief- 
 tains, offered their aid to the secretary, who succeeded 
 in the course of a few months, in bringing the earl of 
 Clancare to his knees, and of causing James Fitz- 
 maurice to change his quarters. H. Gylberte, writing 
 from Limerick, informs the Deputy, that on the 4th of 
 December, the Earl of Clancare and M'Donough, 
 "came in, fell on their knees, and acknowledged their 
 treasons." Gylberte refused parley or peace to any 
 rebel. He would not have them think that the queen 
 had more need of their service than they had of her 
 mercy. Clancare sends Sydney a petition, which he 
 styles " the most humble submission of the most
 
 208 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 unworthy, and the most unnatural Earl of Clancare,* 
 otherwise called Mac Carthy More." 
 
 The Earl of Desmond and his brother John remain, 
 during this rebellion, out of harm's way, in the Tower 
 of London ; but very much against their grain. 
 Desmond writes to the queen to write to the Lord 
 Deputy, to write to John Oge, of the Island of Kierrie, 
 to send him as much money as will discharge him, 
 namely, 902 15s., which is owing to her majesty 
 (partly money borrowed, we conclude), and for a 
 quarterly supply for their expenses. But how or 
 where can John Oge, or Young John, be he as active 
 and clever as the friend of bold Robin Hood, raise 
 902 15s. ? Nowhere in Ireland. So Ellinor, the 
 faithful friend and wife of the rebellious chieftain, 
 writes to the earl that she has resolved to repair to her 
 majesty as an humble suitor for her lord's enlargement. 
 The mouse may gnaw the net, which the lion cannot 
 break. The destruction of the country is so great, she 
 can raise no money. How she travelled, or how she 
 speeded on her noble mission, we cannot speak with 
 certainty ; but that she succeeded in having the earl 
 removed from the Tower, to the friendly roof of Sir 
 "Warham St. Leger, we have positive proof. Desmond 
 writes to Cecil from the Tower, July 5th, 1570, that 
 his wife was not able to follow up her suit, for his 
 deliverance, beseeching Cecil to aid her. Three months 
 after this, on the 17th of October, St. Leger writes, 
 from Leeds castle, for money " for the diets of the Earl 
 and Countess of Desmond, Sir John, and their families, 
 
 * The unnatural Earl of Clancare was also treacherous. When the Earl of 
 Thomond thought it was his turn to go into rebellion, he wrote to Clancare, who 
 sent the letter to Gylberte.
 
 DESMOXD IN ST. LEGER' S HOUSE 209 
 
 in number thirteen or fourteen persons." He adds 
 that they have not so much of their own as will buy 
 them a pair of shoes, and are in despair of having any- 
 thing out of their own country, Four months after 
 this, we meet Sir John Desmond at St. Leger's house, 
 at Southwark, writing to Leicester of his poverty, 
 and asking an interview; and in June, 1571, to 
 Burghley, of his " sickness and great misery," entreat- 
 ing to be liberated. St. Leger tells Burghley that an 
 Irish horseboy had brought a message from Turlough 
 Lynagh to the earl, so the messenger was " stayed." 
 Three days after, he writes to say Sir John is better, 
 and that the countess is sick, that they cannot get 
 their health, " being pent up in so little a room." 
 
 We conclude that St. Leger was their jailor, and that 
 he did not like his office, for he asks permission to go 
 to Ireland to recover his losses. Writing to the privy 
 council two months after this, he complains that the 
 Earl of Desmond refuses to go down to Leeds castle, in 
 Kent, with him, and that, in his absence, he has rashly 
 ranged abroad in sundry parts of London. The poor 
 fellow was happy to shake a loose leg, without the 
 presence of a keeper, though it was a lame one. St. 
 Leger requests either to be relieved of the charge, or 
 to have command to keep him prisoner, without liberty. 
 This sounds harsh from St. Leger. " Maurice Koche, 
 mayor, and his brethren of Cork," petition the queen, 
 for the Earl of Desmond and his brother to be enlarged. 
 " Michael Roche, soveraigne, and his brethren of 
 Kinsale," memorial the privy council to send over the 
 Earl of Desmond, and Sir John, to assist the president 
 in repressing the rebels, who seek to destroy their 
 
 15
 
 210 HISTORY OF CORK, 
 
 town, as they did Kilmallock. The president of 
 Munster, Sir John Perrott, proposes to bring back Sir 
 John of Desmond, and stay the earl, as he is " rash 
 and void of government." " God kepe both Sir John 
 of Desmond and base money out of Ireland," exclaims 
 the Lord Justice Fitzwilliam. " Yet ar they both at 
 the sea syde, to cum over, if brutes [reports] be trw." 
 Here we shall leave them for the present.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 IRISH RULERS LORD PRESIDENT OF MUNSTER LORD DEPUTY 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS DRESS. 
 
 REIGNS OF HENRY VIII. AND ELIZABETH, 
 
 SIR JOHN PERROTT, the reputed son of Henry VIII. , 
 and brother to the queen, arrived in Waterford the 
 27th of February, 1571, as Lord President of Munster. 
 His appointment dated from the latter end of the 
 previous year. The queen writes from Hampton 
 Court, December, 1570, to the President and Council of 
 Wales, to permit Sir John Perrott, appointed pre- 
 sident of Munster, to take thirty-four of his own 
 servants and tenants to attend him into Ireland. We 
 meet with a patent, signed the 1st of January, 1571, 
 authorising him to transport 1,000 quarters of grain, 
 30 barrels of butter, and 500 stone of cheese yearly. 
 Drury got a similar patent in June, 1576. 
 
 It is a received, but erroneous opinion, among Irish 
 writers, that Sir Warham St. Leger was the first Lord 
 President of Munster, in 1567. We do not think that 
 the presidency court of Munster was instituted as early 
 as 1567. We meet among the State Papers, with 
 " Commissioners for Muuster," about this time, or in 
 February, 1568, but no presidency court. There is 
 talk of establishing a presidency court in Muuster, as
 
 212 HISTORY OF CORE. 
 
 early as March, 1566, and of making Sir Warham St. 
 Leger president, but to the latter part of the proposition, 
 the queen, in a letter to the Lord Deputy Sydney, 
 dated from Westminster, January 16th, 1567, objects, 
 on the ground that St. Leger is not likely to be "so 
 indifferent," or impartial to the cases of the two Earls 
 of Desmond and Ormond, as is meet. Sir Warham 
 St. Leger was the son of good old Sir Anthony, the 
 friend of the Desmonds. The Ormonds were especial 
 favorites with the queen. 
 
 While the whole of Ireland was under the govern- 
 ment of a Lord Justice, or deputy who is now styled 
 " Lord Lieutenant, and General Governor " the 
 affairs of Munster were administered by a Lord Presi- 
 dent, who was sort of deputy to the Deputy. The 
 office of president was one of great responsibility and 
 power, for the state of the country was such, as to 
 throw every man invested with authority, upon his 
 own resources. Sudden and unexpected emergencies 
 can only be met by men possessed of actual power. 
 
 The powers or prerogative of the President of Munster 
 are contained in Sir George Carew's "Instructions," 
 dated the 7th of March, 1599, to which, on account of 
 their great length twenty -five pages we must refer 
 the reader.* 
 
 Dr, Smith has furnished us with the following 
 synopsis: 
 
 " The power of the Lord Presidents was very great ; 
 they had authority to hear and determine all complaints 
 
 * " Instructions given by us, the Lord Deputie and Councell, to our right trustie 
 and well beloved Sir George Carew, knight, Lord President of her Majesties 
 Councell, established in the province of Moun&ter." Pacata Hibernia, vol. 1. pp. 
 10 to 34.
 
 PRESIDENCY OFFICE. 213 
 
 throughout the province, as welt guildable, as belonging 
 to the franchises of corporations, and might send for 
 and punish any such officer against whom such com- 
 plaint was made. They had commission of oyer and 
 terminer, as well as of gaol delivery of the whole 
 province, and might hold their courts when and where 
 they thought proper, with power to execute martial 
 law upon all persons who had not .5 of freehold, or 
 goods to the value of <10, and could prosecute any 
 rebel with fire and sword, and for this purpose might 
 array any number of the queen's loyal subjects. They 
 could hear and determine complaints against all magis- 
 trates and officers, civil and military, throughout the 
 province of Munster, and the crosses and liberties of 
 Tipperary and Kerry, and might punish the offenders 
 at discretion. They had authority to put persons, 
 accused of high treason, to the torture, and might re- 
 prieve condemned persons. They had power to issue 
 out proclamations, tending to the better ordering and 
 regulation of the queen's subjects. 
 
 "The president had a serjeant-at-arms to attend him, 
 who carried a mace before him, in the same manner as 
 the lord president of Wales had his borne, such sergeant- 
 at-arms to apprehend all disobedient persons. Thus^ 
 the presidency court was a civil jurisdiction, equal, 
 within the district, to the lord lieutenants of Ireland ; 
 he being a kind of viceroy, in every circumstance, but 
 in name. He had the power of life and death, could 
 make knights, and was royally attended with guards ; 
 and had power, by patent, to command all the forces 
 raised, or to be raised in the province. The Earl of 
 Orrery, in answer to articles exhibited against him be-
 
 214 HISTORY OF COKK. 
 
 fore the House of Commons of England, says, " that the 
 presidency court of Munster had an absolute jurisdic- 
 tion to hear and determine any cause, whereof it had 
 cognizance, without being subject to any other court ; 
 and constantly proceeded to the determination of 
 causes, notwithstanding certioraris sent from other 
 courts to remove causes commenced there ; and adds, 
 that his predecessors have imprisoned persons who 
 brought such certioraris." 
 
 The Lord President's salary was 133 6s. 8d., with 
 a retinue of thirty horse and twenty foot. He had 
 2s. per diem allowed him for an under captain, and for 
 a guidon and trumpeter 2s. each. 
 
 According to an ancient document at Lismore, in the 
 hand- writing of the first Earl of Cork, besides the 
 above salary, the president and council were allowed 
 20 a-week for diet, and 1 1 Os. 7d. a-day for retinue 
 of horse and foot. 
 
 Morison gives us the establishment of Munster for 
 the year 1598, as follows: " The Lord President, 
 130 6s. 8d. per annum; for his diet, with the council 
 at his table, 320 per annum ; for his retinue of twenty 
 foot and thirty horse, with the officers, 803. The Chief 
 Justice, 100 ; the second Justice, 66 13s. 4d. ; the 
 Queen's Attorney, 13 6s. 8d.; the Clerk of the 
 Council, 20 ; the Clerk of the Crown, 20 ; Serjeant- 
 at-arms, 20; Provost-marshal, 255 10s.; total, 
 1951 16s. 8d. sterling money." 
 
 Sir William Fitzwilliam was appointed Lord Chief 
 Justice of Ireland about the same time that Sir John 
 Perrott was appointed President of Munster. He 
 arrived in Dublin the 29th of January, 1 57 1> where
 
 FITZWILLIAM CHIEF JUSTICE. 2 15 
 
 he discharged the duties of Deputy under the title of 
 Chief-Justice. Fitzwilliam, who knew Ireland well, 
 and considered it a sort of penal circuit for those who 
 had lost favor at court, was as much disinclined to 
 assume the office of Chief- Justice as Sir Henry Sydney 
 was loath to relinquish that of Deputy. Sydney had 
 been some eighteen years in harness, and had got to 
 like the duties of his office, and Irish life ; besides he 
 was in debt, and did not find it convenient to settle 
 his accounts with the queen, or his Irish creditors. 
 Sir William had served in various offices for thirteeen 
 years, and was glad to return to England, Ireland 
 was never in a more disturbed state, or more difficult 
 to govern. James Fitzmaurice was spoiling Munster. 
 Sorley Boy had returned from Scotland, to spoil Ulster ; 
 there were bruits of Spanish invasions, and of the 
 " damnable treasons " of that ubiquitous bugbear, Mr. 
 Thomas Stukely ; so Fitzwilliam writes to Lord Burgh- 
 ley, six short weeks- after his arrival, entreating, for 
 his health's sake, that he may be recalled. It is reported 
 he is to be superseded by Lord Grey. He is in 
 delight. Grey's coming is " stayed," he is distracted, 
 and entreats to be " revoked," lest he come before he 
 is looked for. He writes to the queen and gets 
 his son to deliver the letter into her own hands 
 of his utter unfitness for the government of Ireland, 
 of his impoverishment after thirteen years' service, and 
 the evils which generally grow during the administra- 
 tion of a Lord Justice. 
 
 We find Sir John Perrott, who was Deputy many 
 years after, earnestly petitioning the queen to relieve 
 him of a burden which the " perverseness of her
 
 216 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 subjects in Ireland, of the English race, had rendered 
 intolerable." " I can please your majesty's Irish 
 subjects better than the English, who, I fear, will 
 shortly learn the Irish customs, sooner than the Jews 
 did those of the Heathens." 
 
 Though a bold resolute man, like his royal parent, 
 he was sometimes checkmated, bearded, and bullied, 
 by members of his own council. We have an account 
 of a scene which occurred at the council board, between 
 him and Marshal Sir Nicholas Bagnal, that is scarcely 
 surpassed in the southern states of America. 
 
 " The 15th of May [1 587], very angry words passed 
 between the Lord Deputy and Sir Nicholas "Bagnal, 
 Marshal, in the presence of the Chief Justice, the 
 Master of the Rolls, and the Secretary of State, upon 
 occasion that one Patrick Cullan (who used to go into 
 England, in the name of O'Neal, with complaints to 
 her majesty against the Lord Deputy) was ordered to 
 be examined before the council. The Marshal required 
 that the Lord Deputy should not be present at the 
 examination ; upon which the Lord Deputy, taking it 
 ill to be directed by him, told him, ' That though he 
 would not be present at it, yet he would do what he 
 thought fit.' The Marshal reply'd, 'He mistrusted 
 false measures would be used.' The Deputy said, 
 ' He defy'd him, or any man, who should think any 
 false measure should come by him.' The Marshal told 
 him, < He defy'd him also.' Hereupon, the Deputy, 
 with the flat of his hand, touched his cheek once or 
 twice, and laying his other hand on his right shoulder, 
 said, * "Well, well, Marshal, if you defy'd a man in 
 my place, in another country, he would have hanged
 
 PERROTT AND BAGXAL. 217 
 
 you.' The Marshal hereat held up his staff, as if he 
 would have struck the Deputy ; but Mr. Fenton, the 
 Secretary, and Sir Nicholas White, Master of the Kolls, 
 interposing themselves, the Marshal fell back, and 
 rising up said : ( It will be proved you have done ill in 
 this matter.' The Lord Deputy : i You lye, if you say 
 I have done ill in this matter.' Marshal : * You lye ;' 
 and correcting himself : ' If you were not Lord Deputy 
 I would say, you lye ; but I care not for John Perrott.' 
 The Deputy said : ' If I were but Sir John Perrott,* 
 I would teach you to use me thus ; and if you did not 
 dote, I would commit you to prison.' * If you do,' 
 answered the Marshal, * I wou'd come out, whether 
 you wou'd or no.' The Lord Deputy said : c Get you 
 hence, for 'tis no reason to talk with you, for a man 
 would think you were drunk.' ' You are drunk,' 
 reply'd the Marshal. What was the end of this 
 discourse is not known, nor the cause of it, only 
 'tis believed that the Marshal was a great friend 
 to Chilian." 
 
 The difficulty of governing the country at this time, 
 is well expressed by Spenser, in his " Yiew of the 
 State of Ireland :" 
 
 " The governors are usually envious one of another's 
 greater glory; which, if they would seek to excel 
 by better governing, it should be a most laudable 
 emulation ; but they do quite otherwise. For this, as 
 
 * Sir John Perrott was too honest by half for his time and his office ; he was 
 allowed to die in the Tower, though half brother to the queen. He attributed his 
 disgrace to his old enemy, Sir Christopher Hatton, whom he despised as a carpet 
 knight. When he heard he had been condemned to death : " God's-death !' 
 exclaimed he, " will my sister sacrifice her brother to his frisking adversaries ? " 
 When Elizabeth heard these Tudor-like words, she refused to sign his death- 
 warrant, saying, " They are all knaves that condemned him." But she, notwith- 
 standing, allowed him to pine out his life in prison.
 
 218 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 you may mark, is the common order of them, that who 
 cometh next in place will not follow that course of 
 government, however good, which his predecessors 
 held, either for distain of himself, or doubt to have his 
 doings drowned in another man's praise; but will 
 straight take a way quite contrary to the former : as, 
 if the former thought, by keeping under the Irish, to 
 reform them ; the next, by discountenancing the Eng- 
 lish, will curry favour with the Irish, and so make his 
 government seem plausible, as having all the Irish at 
 his command ; but he that comes after will, perhaps, 
 follow neither the one nor the other, but will dandle 
 the one and the other in such sort, as he will suck 
 sweet out of them both, and leave bitterness to the 
 poor country ; which, if he that comes after shall seek 
 to redress, he shall perhaps find such crosses as he 
 shall hardly be able to bear, or do any good that 
 might work the disgrace of his predecessors. Exam- 
 ples you may see hereof in the governors of late times 
 sufficiently, and in others of former times more mani- 
 festly, when the government of that realm was com- 
 mitted sometimes to the Geraldines, as when the 
 house of York had the crown of England ; sometimes 
 to the Butlers, as when the house of Lancaster got 
 the same, and other whiles, when an English go- 
 vernor was appointed, he, perhaps, found enemies of 
 both." 
 
 There now prevailed as many and as contradictory 
 opinions regarding the true mode of governing Ireland, 
 in the reign of Elizabeth, as existed fifty or sixty 
 years ago. Some, like Lord Grey of Wilton, and his 
 secretary, the poet Spenser, were for the iron hand ;
 
 IRISH GOVERNORS. 219 
 
 others fur kindness, and more, like Sir George Carew, 
 for the " divide et impera," policy. Sir John Perrott 
 was for kindness, which policy the poet condemned. 
 He would have given the deputies more power 
 than they usually possessed, and would not have 
 allowed them to be crossed and check-mated as they 
 were, by the ministers who stood between them and 
 the queen : 
 
 "The chief evil in that government is, that no 
 governor is suffered to go on with any one course, but 
 upon the least information here, of this or that, he is 
 either stopped, and crossed, or other courses appointed 
 him from hence which he shall run, which, how incon- 
 venient it is, is at this hour too well felt. And therefore 
 this should be one principle in the appointing of the Lord 
 Deputy's authority, that it should be more ample and 
 absolute than it is, and that he should have uncon- 
 trolled power to do anything that he, with the advise- 
 ment of the council, should think meet to be done ; 
 for it is not possible for the council here, to direct a 
 government there, who shall be forced oftentimes to 
 follow the necessity of present actions, and to take the 
 sudden advantage of time, which being once lost, will 
 not be recovered ; whilst through expecting direction 
 from hence, the delays whereof are oftentimes through 
 other greater affairs most irksome, the opportunities 
 there in the meantime pass away, and great danger 
 often groweth, which, by such timely prevention, might 
 easily be stopped. 
 
 "And this (as I remember) is worthily observed 
 by Machiavel, in his discourses upon Livy, where 
 he commendeth the manner of the Romans' govern-
 
 220 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 ment, in giving absolute power to all their coun- 
 sellors and governors, which, if they abused, they 
 should afterwards dearly answer. And the contrary 
 thereof, he reprehendeth in the States of Venice, of 
 Florence, and many other principalities of Italy, who 
 use to limit their chief officers so strictly as that thereby 
 they have oftentimes lost such happy occasions, as they 
 could never come unto again ; the like whereof, whoso 
 hath been conversant in the government of Ireland, 
 hath too often seen, to their great hinderance and hurt." 
 The deputy's commission was to make war and 
 peace, to punish or pardon treason against the queen's 
 person, or counterfeiting money, only excepted to 
 impose fines, dispose of the estates of rebels, to assem- 
 ble parliament with her majesty's privity to confer 
 all offices, except Chancellor, Treasurer, three Chief 
 Judges, and Master of the Eolls ; and to collate and 
 confer all spiritual promotions, except archbishops, 
 bishops, and deans. In a word, to do all things that 
 the queen would do if present. Although it was 
 decided by Henry VIII., in 1541, that deputies should 
 not appoint to " bishopricks or deaneries," they em- 
 ployed their influence in recommending to these offices, 
 The Lord Deputy Sydney wrote to Cecil, December 
 26, 1569, to get his chaplain, Eichard Dixon, appointed 
 bishop of Cork and Cloyne, " the yearly value of which 
 did not exceed 40." He was appointed, but the 
 appointment was unfortunate, for in April 16, 1571, 
 we find the Lord Chancellor Weston, Adam Loftus, 
 Archbishop of Dublin, and the Lord Justice Fitz- 
 william, writing to LordBurghley, that "Eichard Dixon, 
 Bishop of Cork, less than twelve months, who has a
 
 BISHOP DIXON DEPRIVED. 221 
 
 married wife, has under color of matrimony retained a 
 woman of suspected life as his wife ; that they have 
 compelled him to do penance in the cathedral of Dub- 
 lin, but fearing to exceed their commission, desire 
 instructions as to depriving him." Weston, writing to 
 Burghley, November 26, 1571, recommends Matthew 
 Seyne to the bishoprick of Cork, " vacant by the depri- 
 vation of Richard Dixon." 
 
 Doctor Smith and others, we know not on what 
 authority, say that Dixon was " deprived for popery." 
 No such charge could have been brought against his 
 successor, Matthew Seyne or Sheyne, for this was the 
 bishop who " publicly burnt the image of Saint Do- 
 minick at the High Cross of Cork, to the great grief," 
 as Smith says, u of the superstitious Irish of that 
 place." Sheyne was succeeded by the famous William 
 Lyon.* 
 
 There was persecution at all sides, and great irre- 
 gularity in church aifairs at this time. Edward Staple, 
 JJishop of Meath, complained, December 16, 1558, 
 " The Lorde Cardinall [Pole] Layed Agaynst me for 
 A grevous Article that I presumed in my sermond to 
 pray for our olde master's sole." The " olde master" 
 was Henry VIII., who had been excommunicated. 
 Essex received instructions from Elizabeth (State 
 Paper, dated May 22, 1561) to repair the jails, and 
 commit such as do not go to church. 
 
 * Tho famous William Lyon. There is a story told that Lyon had been 
 an English admiral, who had done distinguished service against the Spanish 
 Armada ; that the queen asked what she could do for him, and that he replied, 
 "Make a bi&hop of me;" that he was accordingly made Bishop of Cork and 
 Cloyne. There is no foundation in truth for this story. Lyon had been previously 
 Bishop of Koss. The see of Ross was united to Cork and Cloyne in his time, the 
 17th of March, 1683. He held the three sees until his death, which happened 
 in 1617.
 
 222 HISTORY or CORK. 
 
 Laymen were sometimes appointed to church offices. 
 Robert Weston,* who got Dixon deprived of Cork, was 
 appointed to the deanery of St Patrick, of which 
 Archbishop Loftus, who had been previously Dean, 
 complains, and hopes, when the appointment is again 
 vacant, it will not be given to a layman. 
 
 Men were appointed to livings and bishopricks who 
 were totally ignorant of the language of the people. 
 Alexander Craik, Bishop of Kildare and Dean oi St. 
 Patrick, writing to Duddeley in 1561, desires to be 
 " discharged," as he cannot speak to the people, or the 
 people understand him. The queen endeavoured to 
 mitigate this evil by advancing money for an Irish 
 Testament. " Idem, whereas her majestic hath paid 
 ,66 13s. 4d. to the bushoppes there for the making of 
 carecters for the Testament in Irishe, that oneless they 
 doe presently put the same in print, her majestic may 
 be repaid." The Lord Deputy Croft (in November 1 1, 
 1551) recommended a schoolmasler to be made Arch- 
 bishop of Cashel, because he was able to preach in the 
 English and Irish tongues. Mr. Brown was recom- 
 mended to the bishoprick of Down in 1573, as being 
 " discreet and learned in the Irish language." See 
 State Papers, vol. 39, Feb. 19, 1573. 
 
 The low value of these high appointments was perhaps 
 the cause of schoolmasters and humble men getting 
 them. The bishop of Cork and Eoss could not be 
 styled even in 1571, " passing rich on forty pounds 
 a year." We discover from certain rolls forming part 
 
 * Weston. This Robert Weston seems to have been a favorite with the 
 queen. He writes at one time to Cecil, complaining of the smallness of his fee, 
 as Lord Chancellor, and the impoverishment of his deanery of St Patrick, and 
 prays the queen "to pardon him the 100 marks she lent, and to forego the first- 
 fruits of the deanery, and the yearly 20th part," which she grants.
 
 EXPENSES OF IRISH GOVERNMENT. 223 
 
 of Pope Nicholas' taxation in 1291, that at this early 
 period the income of the Bishop of Cloyne was rated 
 at a hundred and eighty- five marks, .123 7s. Od. per 
 annum, and that of the Bishop of Cork at ,90 6s. 8d. 
 per annum. The State and the early reformers laid a 
 greedy hand on church property. The Irish deputy 
 and council, writing to Henry VIII. from Dublin, 
 April 20, 1537, say, " Your revennues be worth 
 seven thowsande marckes by the yere, besides your 
 furste-frutes, tenthe, and souch other things as ye be 
 entitled unto, which will amounte to asmych more." 
 This would give a revenue, the mark being 13s. 4d., 
 of less than 10,000 per annum. The annual value 
 of the land at this time, subject to the impost of first- 
 fruits, was under 50,000 per annum. The king 
 complains of the small revenue and heavy outlay. The 
 estimates of Irish expenditure for the half year ending 
 the 4th of July, 1567, was 83,876 12s. 5d. We are 
 not, therefore, surprised to find the small salaries of 
 government employees in arrear for years. The sala- 
 ries of the " Lord Deputy, chief officers, and others," 
 were in arrear from May 24th, 1560, to September 1st, 
 1567. The arrear* amounted, according to a book 
 kept by Thomas Jemyson, to 31,606 2s. 4d., which 
 was under 5,000 a-year, for the Irish vice-regal 
 expenditure. We meet in the State Paper office with 
 "a warrant," dated August llth, 1545, "to increase 
 the salary allowed John Goldsmyth, clerk of the coun- 
 cil, (the Irish under- secretary in modern days,) who 
 
 * The arrear. Fitzwilliam writes to Burghley, April 15, 1572, that he musk 
 "sell Milton;" and in July of the same year, that his "wife must sell the stock 
 of Milton." He writes in August, praving Lord Burghley to preserve him from 
 beggary, and help him out of his office of deputy.
 
 224 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 has only 10 per annum." The whole sura drawn 
 from the queen's coffers in England, for the affairs of 
 Ireland, from Michaelmas, 1565, to December, 1571, 
 was 201,891 12s. 9Jd. This sum was intended to 
 cover not only the civil, but military expenses of the 
 country. 5,000 is voted in 1571, for the soldiers in 
 garrison. The army at this time was almost nil a 
 mere handful of men. not sufficient to guard even the 
 pale, let alone to keep the Fitzgeralds, the Butlers, the 
 O'Neills, the Mac Carthys, and other Irish chieftains, 
 in check. 
 
 We have no better description of Munster in the 
 latter half of the sixteenth century, than that contained 
 in the letters of Sir Henry Sydney, who was an eye- 
 witness of what he describes. He arrived in Youghal 
 the 20th of April, 1565, which he calls " a very proper 
 town," but of late decayed by reason of pirates, and no 
 less annoyed by the landlords of the country, under 
 the rule of the Earl of Desmond. 
 
 He travelled from Youghal to Cork, from Cork to 
 Kinsale, and from Kinsale to Limerick, and says, " As 
 I never was in a more pleasant country in all my life, 
 so never saw I a more waste and desolate land." 
 
 He gives a sad, but we believe an exaggerated 
 description of the manners and morals of the people : 
 " Surely there was never a people that lived in more 
 misery, nor, as it should seem, of worse minds, for 
 matrimony is not regarded; perjury, robbery, and 
 murder, are counted allowable. I cannot find that 
 they make any conscience of sin." He doubts whether 
 they christen their children, as he could find " no 
 place where it should be done." Stanihurst says, " In
 
 PEACE IN MUNSTER. 22$ 
 
 one corner of the land" he does not condescend to 
 say in what corner lt they used a damnable supersti- 
 tion, leaving the right arms of their infants unchris- 
 tened, to the intent that they might give a more 
 ungracious and deadly blow." 
 
 Hooker gives quite an Arcadian or Millennial descrip- 
 tion of Munster the year after this. We shall put one 
 over against the other. It was intended as a compli- 
 ment on Sir John Perrott's administration : 
 
 " Now every man, with a white stick only in 
 his hands, and with great treasures, might and did 
 travel without fear and danger where he would ; and 
 the white sheep did keep the black,* and all the beasts 
 lay continually in the fields without any stealing or 
 preying." Perrott, writing from Cork, July 2, 1573, 
 says, that he knows u not one evil man at present in 
 rebellion, or any two picking thieves within his 
 province." 
 
 Every country under heaven has had its golden age. 
 We are told that Kollo, the ancestor of the Conqueror, 
 suspended a valuable bracelet from an oak in a forest 
 near the Seine, and that it remained there for three 
 years. Bede says, that a woman with a new-born 
 child might travel through Northumberland, in the 
 reign of Edwin, without fear or insult. The conver- 
 sation of the Irish in A.M. 3960, "was as sweet a 
 harmony to one another as any music." We suspect 
 that Hooker's description of the man travelling with 
 the white stick, gave Moore the idea of the lady with 
 the " snow white wand : " 
 
 * TJie white sheep did keep the black. This must be figurative. It needed but 
 the lion to lie down wifch the lamb to complete a picture of peace, which might 
 rival that of Laudseer. 
 
 16
 
 226 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 " Rich and rare were the gems she wore, 
 And a hright gold ring on her wand she bore ; 
 But oh ! her beauty was far beyond 
 Her-sparkling gems, or snow white wand. 
 
 Lady ! dost thou not fear to stray, 
 
 So lone and lovely, through this bleak way ? 
 
 Are Erin's sons so good or so cold, 
 
 As not to be tempted by woman or gold ? 
 
 Sir Knight ! I feel not the least alarm, 
 
 No son of Erin will offer me harm ; 
 
 For though they love women and golden store, 
 
 Sir Knight, they love honor and virtue more ! 
 
 On she went, and her maiden smile, 
 In safety lighted her round the green isle ; 
 And blest for ever is she who relied, 
 Upon Erin's honor and Erin's pride ! " 
 
 Sir Henry Sydney paid a second visit to Munster, in 
 1575. He arrived in the city of Cork the 23rd of 
 December, and " was received with all joyfulness, 
 tokens, and shews, the best the citizens could express 
 of their dutiful thanksgiving to her majesty." They 
 lodged and entertained his English footmen and gallo- 
 g 1 . asses for six weeks, "without grudging or complaint, 
 cither of townsmen or of soldiers, the townsmen 
 receiving in ready money the one-half of the soldiers' 
 wages for his board, fire and lodging, wherewith he 
 held himself very well satisfied, and the soldiers in 
 like manner well contented to give it." 
 
 Sir Henry writes the privy council : " The good 
 estate and flourishing of that city well appro veth the 
 good effects of resident authority amongst them ; for 
 it is so amended as in a few years I have seldom seen 
 any town. I was, for the time of my continuance 
 there, very honourably attended and accompanied by 
 the Earls of Desmond, Thomond, and Clancarre, the
 
 SIR HENRY SYDNEY IN CORK. 227 
 
 Bishops of Cashel and Cork, and the Elect of Eoss- 
 carberry,* the Yiscounts of Barry and Roche, the 
 Barons of Courcy, Lisnard, Dunboyne, Power, Barrie- 
 Oge, and Lowthe." 
 
 He was visited in Cork on this occasion by " divers 
 of the Irishry not yet nobilitated ; the lord of Carbery, 
 called Sir Donald Mac Cartie, and the lord of Mus- 
 kerry, called Sir Cormac Mac Tiege Mac Cartie, 
 neither of these, but in respect of their territories, was 
 able to be a viscount ; and truly I wish them both to 
 be made barons, for they were both good subjects, and 
 in especial the latter, who, for his obedience to her 
 majesty and her laws, and disposition to civility, is 
 the rarest man that ever was born in the Irishry, but 
 of him I intend to write specially, ere it be long, for 
 truly he is a special man, 
 
 " There came to me also Sir Owen O'Sullivan, and 
 the son and heir of O'Sullivan More, the father not 
 being able to come by reason of his great years and 
 impotency. Sir William O'Carroll of Ely, O'Carroll 
 and Mac Donogho, never one of them, but for his lands, 
 might pass in the rank of a baron either in Ireland or 
 England. 
 
 " There were in like manner with me of the Irishry 
 O'Kyne and Mac Fynnen, the sons or heirs (as they 
 would have them) of Macaulay and O'Callaghan, the 
 old men not being able to eome by reason of their age 
 and infirmity. O'Mahon and O'Driscolls (each of them) 
 have land enough, with good order, to live like a baron 
 either here or there." 
 
 Lord Burleigh, in a private document, written but a 
 
 * The Elect of Rosscarberry, i. e. the Tanist of Carbery.
 
 228 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 few years after this, gives a very different account of 
 these Irish lords and captains: u Sir Cormac Mac 
 Tiege, whoe was of late honorablie used of the queue's 
 highnes in England, hath quite forgotten the same ; 
 Sir Owen M'Cartie, beinge a simple man, is so ad- 
 dicted to one sept of the Mac Swyns as he is to be 
 directed by them as they list ; Omahound, his follower, 
 match of his imperfections, a man of small force, 
 although a proper countrie ; Barioge, a poor beggarlie 
 captaine of a countrie betweene Cowrk and Kinsale, 
 called Kynoley, whose simplicitie is such as hee mak- 
 eth of a propper sort of a countrie nothinge to bee 
 accompted on ; Mac Donough, his countrie so nere the 
 rebells as I feare he is infected with their treasons ; 
 O'Kieff, if there were want of theves in this province, 
 he might be aptly termed a theef." 
 
 If there be any truth in the following lines, trans- 
 lated or paraphrased from the Irish of Aenghus O'Daly, 
 there is some palliation for O'Keeffe's thieving pro- 
 pensities : 
 
 " The ragged O'Keeffe, he shivers and shakes ; 
 The sad ragamuffin, he hasn't got stuff in 
 His carcase to hattle with agues and aches. 
 But I spare him, the luckless ; 
 Poor devil the cloakless are always the pluckless. 
 Poor little red rohin, the snow hides the ground, 
 And a worm or a gruh is scarce to be found; 
 Still don't visit O'Keeffe, rather brave the hard weather, 
 He'd soon bring your breast and your backbone together." 
 
 Sir Henry Sydney goes on to speak of the English 
 or Anglo-Norman race. * i Sir N orris Fitzgerald, brother 
 of the Viscount Decies ; Sir Theobald Butler, whose 
 uncle and cousin were barons of the Cayre, whose 
 lands he lawfully and justly enjoyed, and better de-
 
 SIR. HENRY SYDNEY IN CORK:. 229 
 
 serveth that title of honor than any of them ever did, 
 for whom I intend more specially to write, for truly 
 he is worthy any commendation." 
 
 " There came to me also many of the ruined relics 
 of the ancient English inhabitants of this province, 
 as the Arundels, Eochfords, Barretts, Flemings, Lom- 
 bards, Terries, and many others whose ancestors (as it 
 may appear by monuments, as well in writing as of 
 building) were able, and did live like gentlemen, and 
 knights some of them ; and now all in misery, either 
 banished from their own, or oppressed upon their own." 
 
 " Lastly, there came to me five brethren, and the 
 sons of two other brethren of one lineage, all captains 
 of galloglass, called Mac Swynes,* who, although I 
 place them last of the rest, yet are they of as much 
 consequence as any of the rest, for of such credit and 
 force were they grown into (although they were no 
 lords of lands themselves), as they would make of the 
 greatest lords of the province, both in fear of them> 
 and glad of their friendship. 
 
 " And the better to furnish the beauty and filling of 
 the city, all these principal lords had with them their 
 wives, during all the Christmas, who truly kept very 
 honorable, at least very plentiful houses. And to be 
 brief, many widow ladies were there also, who each 
 had been wives to earls and others of good note and 
 account." 
 
 Two young people met at this grand vice-regal as- 
 sembly, or coshering, whose romantic wooing affected 
 
 Mat Svynet. Spenser says the Mac Swynes were anciently of the Veres 
 [De Veres] of England. "Proud hearts do oftentimes, like wanton colts, kick at 
 their mothers. So they say did these Mac Swynes and Mac Mahons, or rather 
 Veres and Fitz-Ursulas, for private despight turn themselves against England."
 
 230 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 not only their fortunes, but the affairs of Munster for 
 many years ; one of these was Lady Ellen, the daughter 
 of Mac Carthy More, the Earl of Clancare, by his 
 countess, the Earl of Desmond's sister ; and the other 
 was the famous Florence Mac Carthy, the son of Sir 
 Donogh Mac Carthy Eeagh, of Carbery. As we are 
 writing history, and not romance, we shall not antici- 
 pate the regular sequence of events. We shall take 
 up their story at some future time, and allow Sir Henry 
 Sydney to conclude his interesting letter. 
 
 " It may please your lordships to understand what 
 this company did, and what I, with the assistance of 
 such others as I named in my former letters, together 
 with Mr. Dowdall and Mr. Walsh, whom I found com- 
 missioners in this province, what we did ; and for them 
 they seemed in all appearance generally to loathe their 
 vile and barbarous manner of life. Such as already 
 do not yield rent or service desire to yield both, and 
 agreed to deliver in the names of their idle men, 
 and then to answer for them, and if any were found 
 unbooked, to be used as a felon or vagabond. 
 
 " I caused daily sessions to be held in that city, 
 from the morrow after Twelve-day till the last of 
 January, in which appeared very honest and good 
 juries, sound and good trial made by them, a number 
 of civil causes determined and ended, and above 
 twenty-four notable malefactors condemned and exe- 
 cuted. Condon or Canton Armou attainted and ad- 
 judged to die, yet stayed from execution ; but his 
 lands, which were great, were escheated. A younger 
 son of the Yiscount Eoche was endicted, arraigned, and 
 condemned to die, but stayed for execution ; for as the
 
 DRESS IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 231 
 
 world goeth here, his fault was very small." Perhaps 
 sporting an Irish glilb, which Spenser describes as 
 " a thick curled bush of hair hanging down over 
 their eyes, and monstrously disguising them," as 
 one of the most " vile and barbarous " habits referred 
 to by Sydney in this passage. I think it was 
 the President of Connaught who wrote to the Lord 
 Deputy in 1572, " Such as doo come in to us, we 
 cause to cutt ther glybbez, which we doo thynke the 
 %rst token of obedyence." * 
 
 Campion, at this time, describes the dress of Irish 
 chieftains. " Linen shirts the rich do wear for wan- 
 tonness and bravery, with wide hanging sleeves plaited; 
 thirty yards are little enough for one of them." He 
 says, in another place, " they have now left off their 
 saffron, and learne to wash their shirts four or Jive times 
 in the year, "f 
 
 The cloak was in vogue among the Irish at this 
 time, and, if we are to believe Spenser, was applied to 
 far more useful purposes than Diogenes' dish, which 
 was a cup, a cap, a measure, a water-pot and, as an 
 auctioneer's advertisement would say a number of 
 other articles too numerous to mention : 
 
 " First, the outlaw, being for his many crimes and 
 villainies banished from the towns and houses of honest 
 men, and wandering in waste places, far from danger 
 of law, maketh his mantle his house, and under it 
 covereth himself from the wrath of heaven, from the 
 
 * Ffyrst token of obedyence. The rebel of 1798 was called a croppy, on account 
 of his short hair. Many a man was hanged or shot for want of glibbes or lonjj 
 locks in these latter days 
 
 f Wash their shirts four or five tinies in the year. Fynes Moryson says, " You 
 conld not get a bed in any inn, even in the tovn of Cork, without being swarmed 
 with lice."
 
 232 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 offence of the earth, and from the sight of men. When 
 it raineth, it is his pent house, when it bloweth it is 
 his tent, when it freezeth it is his tahernacle. In 
 summer, he can wear it loose ; in winter, he can wrap 
 it close; at all times he can use it, never heavy, never 
 cumbersome. 
 
 "Likewise for a rebel, it is as serviceable; for in 
 this war that he maketh (if at least it deserve the 
 name of war), when he still flieth from his foe, and 
 lurketh in the thick woods and strait passages, waiting 
 for advantages, it is his bed, yea, and almost his 
 household stuff; for the wood is his house against all 
 weathers, and his mantle is his couch to sleep in ; 
 therein he wrappeth himself round, and coucheth him- 
 self strongly against the gnats, which in that country 
 do more annoy the naked rebels, whilst they keep the 
 woods, and do more sharply wound them than all their 
 enemies' swords and spears, which can seldom come 
 nigh them ; yea, and oftentimes their mantle serveth 
 them when they are near driven, being wrapped about 
 their left arm, instead of a target, for it is hard to cut 
 through with a sword; besides, it is light to bear, 
 light to throw away. 
 
 " Lastly, for a thief, it is so handsome, as it being, 
 as they commonly are naked, it is to them all may 
 seem it was first invented for him, for under it he may 
 cleanly convey any fit pillage that cometh hand- 
 somely in his way, and when he goeth abroad in the 
 night in freebooting, it is his best and surest friend, 
 for lying, as they often do, two or three nights to- 
 gether abroad, to watch for their booty, with that 
 they can prettily shroud themselves under a bush
 
 IRISH CLOAKS AND ENGLISH GOWNS. 233 
 
 or a bankside, till they can conveniently do their 
 errand." 
 
 The poet, in the end, hands it over to the women, 
 and concludes : " How handsome it is to lie and sleep 
 in, or to louse themselves in the sunshine, they that 
 have been but a while in Ireland can well witness." 
 
 English sovereigns laid great stress on the influence 
 of dress in civilising the wild Irish, and bringing them 
 into a state of subjection. Queen Elizabeth, with all 
 a woman's tact, endeavoured to suppress two rebellions, 
 that of Turlough O'Neill, in Ulster, and of Garrett, 
 Earl of Desmond, in Munster, by making their wives 
 presents of handsome gowns. The queen imagined it 
 would add to the favor to send dresses she had worn 
 herself. When the gowns (which were to be presented 
 by the chancellor) came to hand, they were found to 
 be " slobbered in the front breadth." These were re- 
 placed by new materials, and the dresses presented in 
 due form. We learn that after this, " the Countess of 
 Desmond greatly disapproved of her husband's dis- 
 loyal conduct." Her gown was " cloth of gold."
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE LANDING AT SMERWICK LORD GREY SPENSER RALEIGH 
 LORD ROCHE THE DEATH OF THE EARL OF DESMOND. 
 
 A.D 15731583. 
 
 WE find, from the account of Sir Henry Sydney's visit 
 to Cork, that the Earl of Desmond was at large, and in 
 high favor in 1575. He was brought from London to 
 Dublin in 1573, where he was kept prisoner. It would 
 seem as if his wife, the countess, had also been a 
 prisoner, for we find them both, October 12, 1573, 
 sueing for enlargement, and complaining shortly after, 
 that they got neither favor nor liberty ; they therefore 
 resolved to liberate themselves. 
 
 " It happened," we are told by the Four Masters, 
 " through the miracles of God, and the intercession of 
 James" not James, the Apostle, but James Fitz- 
 maurice, the great Irish rebel that " the Earl of 
 Desmond and his brother John, who had been prisoners 
 in London for six years, were liberated. The earl was 
 put under arrest in the town [Dublin], and John was 
 permitted to visit the fair plains of Munster." 
 
 The earl, who appears to have been on a sort of 
 parole, under the custody or care of the mayor of 
 Dublin but this sort of thing was not well understood 
 in those days took advantage of a hunting excursion 
 to turn his horse's head to the South. He, and a few
 
 SIR WILLIAM DRURY IN CORK. 235 
 
 followers, travelled for three nights, and arrived unex- 
 pectedly in the midst of the Geraldiues, November, 
 1573, who received him with wild cheering. 
 
 In the course of one month he expelled the govern- 
 ment forces from the chief towns of Munster, taking 
 the castles Baile na Martra [Castle Martyr], in Cork, 
 and Castlemaine, in Kerry. He did not leave a resident 
 chief in any town in the country, from the meeting of 
 the Three Waters [at Waterford] to Bealach Conglais, 
 that he did not bring under subjection in one month. 
 
 Sir John Perrott left for England in the autumn this 
 year. "We are told by the Four Masters that his 
 u departure was lamented by the poor, the widow, the 
 infirm, and the un warlike." 
 
 The office of president of Munster appears to have 
 been vacant for about three years, and was then filled, 
 in 1576, by Sir William Drury, who " took a circuit," 
 like Sir Henry Sydney, of all the great towns of 
 Munster, " to confirm laws and regulations." He 
 destroyed malefactors and robbers, and put to death 
 Barrett, of Cork, and two noble and distinguished 
 young constables of the tribe of Maolmurry, or Mac 
 Sweeney.'' He proceeded thence to Limerick, where 
 he hung " a number of chiefs and of the common 
 people." 
 
 We conclude it was during this tour that the Earl 
 of Desmond invited Sir William to his castle at Tralee. 
 He came, accompanied by a hundred and twenty men. 
 The earl assembled eight hundred to meet, some say to 
 surprise, the Lord President. He made a rush or 
 charge at the wild kerne and galloglasses, and drove 
 them to cover. He then rode up to the castle, and
 
 236 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 demanded an explanation. lie was met by the coun- 
 tess, who solemnly assured him that the men he took 
 for enemies were a hunting party, who had approached 
 to give him a "bene venu," or welcome, into that 
 part of Munster ; and " she so wiselie and modestlie 
 did behave herself," that Drury believed, or seemed to 
 believe her. "We think it was shortly after this, in 
 1577, that the president made a prisoner of John, the 
 earl's brother, and sent him to Dublin. 
 
 Drury was raised to the dignity of Lord Chief 
 Justice, with the authority of a Deputy, in 1578. 
 There was an impression abroad at this time that the 
 office of lord president of Munster was to be abolished. 
 Captain Malby, who is styled president of Connaught, 
 acted as a sort of vice-president of Munster during Sir 
 William Drury's tenure of office, which, as we shall 
 see, was of short duration. 
 
 Desmond was known to be deeply compromised in 
 two landings of Spanish and Italian forces, on the 
 south-western coast of Ireland. The first expedition 
 was undertaken by the earl's cousin, James Fitzmau- 
 rice. This James, the son of Maurice Duv, was a 
 very remarkable man. We find him in 1575, after 
 various successful forays, and as many failures, retiring 
 with his wife and children to France, his cousins, the 
 earl and the earl's brother, John, having made peace 
 with a government which had often deceived them, 
 in which James had no confidence, and against which 
 he had vowed eternal warfare. The second imprison- 
 ment of John brought the earl to the same way of 
 thinking, and remembering the effective aid which 
 James had afforded both him and his brother on a
 
 23T 
 
 former occasion, he employed his secretary to pen the 
 following letter : 
 
 " WILLIAM OF DANUBI, servant of the Earl of Desmond, to JAMES 
 
 FITZMATTRICE. July 18, 1579. 
 
 " Life and health from William of Danubi to James, son of 
 Maurice, and be it known to James that my master sent him his 
 blessing, and that unless James relieves us soon we are undone ; 
 for John is in prison awaiting my master, and so watched and 
 warded that he may never get away again. And therefore, I 
 beseech you, in the name of God, and in the name of my master, 
 to bring relief soon, or you will not be able to overtake the relief 
 of him, and to co-operate with the good helps, [which now offer] 
 such as the sons of the Earl of Connaught, and many others of the 
 men of Erin. And moreover, be it known to you, that ivhatever 
 Edmond Brown has said, nothing shall be wanting of it, whatever 
 may be added to it ; and be assured of it, that we cannot tell how 
 much we are in want of you ; and though we would like that a host 
 of men should come along with you. that we would be exceedingly 
 glad that yourself [alone] should come to our aid ; and be not dis- 
 mayed by what hardship you have seen, for we think that the 
 greater part of the men of Erin are ready to rise with ourselves, 
 and we would be much the better of you. And do not wait for the 
 harvest, for there is danger 'that the whole affair may be set aside 
 by that time. And we would incite you more than this, if we 
 thought that you would respond to us the sooner. 
 
 " And be assured that I do not write this of my own accord, 
 but at the request of my master, and that it is dangerous to write 
 from Erin to you; for the letter which the Seneschal wrote at Bally- 
 naskellig, to be sent to you by the merchant of San Halves, 
 [miscarried;] that merchant, and Mac Carthy, who was that 
 merchant's gossip, betrayed the Seneschal, and Mac Carthy brought 
 the letter to Portlairge, where the Justice and the President were. 
 And the form that was in it was : ' Life and health from John, 
 son of William, to James ; and be it knoivn to James, that the wheat 
 of the friars has grown ivell, and that the ivlieat of the country has 
 failed.'' And God saved the Seneschal on that occasion. 
 
 " I have no news, except concerning the death of Mac Carthy 
 Reagh; and that Rory Oge O'More has not left a stake or a scollop
 
 238 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 in Naas-of-Leinster, or in twenty miles on every side of it ; and not 
 only this, but that the flame of war has grown up in many of the 
 men of Erin against the Saxons, if they could [but] get help. 
 
 " That is enough ; but give a blessing in the name of my master 
 to the King of France." 
 
 The Xing of France, to whom the master of Danubi 
 sends a blessing, received James Fitzmaurice rather 
 coolly, he therefore applied to the King of Spain, but 
 Philip had lately concluded a peace with England ; he 
 however gave him letters to Pope Gregory XIII., by 
 whom he was favorably received. 
 
 There is no reply from James to this letter extant, 
 but we have a letter from him bearing the same date, 
 addressed to Mac Donnell, a leader of the Munster 
 galloglasses, which announces that James had " come 
 safe to Erin : " 
 
 "JAMES FITZMATJEICE to AUSTIN KLTTAGH MAC DONNELL. 
 July 18, 1579. 
 
 " Life and health with thee, O writing, to Austin Kittagh Mac 
 Donnell, from his own friend and companion, i. e., from James, son 
 of Maurice, son of the earl. And be it known to him, that I have 
 come safe to Erin with power, after all I have travelled and 
 traversed of foreign countries ; and for this reason I implore of him 
 to come to me with as many bonaghtmen as he can bring with 
 him ; and moreover, be it certain unto him, that he never came to 
 any war coming into which he should have greater courage, than 
 this war, for many reasons : first, inasmuch as we are fighting 1'or 
 our faith, and for the church of God; and next, that we are defend- 
 ing our country, and extirpating heretics and barbarians, and 
 unjust and lawless men ; and besides, [let him understand] that he 
 was never employed by any lord who will pay himself and his 
 people their wages and their bounty better than I shall, inasmuch 
 as I never was at any time more competent to pay it than now, 
 thanks be to the great God of mercy for it, and to the people who 
 have given me that power, under God, and whp will not suifer me
 
 JAMES FITZMATJEICE AND THOMAS STUKELY. 239 
 
 to want from henceforth. And this is enough ; but let him not 
 neglect coming, that he may get some compensation for all the toil 
 and labour that he suffered in my cause before now; let him 
 request his brethren, and the gentry of his territory, to respond to 
 the time, and to rise with one accord for the sake of the faith of 
 Christ, and to defend their country ; and moreover, that all their 
 bonaghtmen will get their pay readily;* and that we shall all get a 
 place in the kingdom of heaven, if we fight for His sake." 
 
 There is a second letter, a sort of duplicate of the 
 above, written at the same time, and sent, perhaps, by 
 a different messenger. We conclude that both were 
 intercepted by English detectives. 
 
 The next letter or billet in which we have the same 
 curious personification is addressed to Eandal Mac 
 Uonnell, no doubt another leader of galloglasses : 
 
 " JAMES FITZMATJKICE to RANDAL MAC DONNELL, 
 July 31, 1579. 
 
 " The custom of the letter [i. e.] salutation, billet, from 
 James, son of Maurice, son of the earl, to his friend and companion 
 Randal, son of Colla Maeldubh, and tell him that I told him to 
 collect as many bonaghtmen as he can, and to come to me, and that 
 he will get his pay according to his own will, for I was never more 
 thankful to God for having great power and influence than now. 
 Advise every one of your friends (who likes fighting for his religion 
 and his country better than for gold and silver, or who wishes to 
 obtain them all [i. e., to fight for his religion and country, and also 
 for gold and silver] as his wages) to come to me, and that he will 
 find each of these things." 
 
 James had met the famous Tom Stukely on the 
 continent, who had promised to join with him in 
 his Irish expedition. If we meet with Stukely's 
 name in one, we meet it in one hundred state papers, 
 and always as the bugbear of some French, Spanish, 
 
 * Their bonaghtmen will get their pay regularly. These bonaghtmen were a 
 sort of hired or mercenary soldiori.
 
 240 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 or Italian invasion. We are greatly surprised he was 
 never apprehended by the English government. He 
 was held by some as a natural son of Henry VIII. ; by 
 the mother's side, a descendant of Diarmaid Mac 
 Murrough, king of Leinster. He is styled Thomas 
 Stucley, late of Enniscorthy, gent., seneschal of the 
 county of Wexford. Under date May 2, 1571, 
 " Stucley's man's examination, declaring his departure 
 for Spain." May 15th, " Examination of a mariner 
 returned from Stucley." Same date, " Stucley has a 
 colleetorship of the Pope in Spain." March 5tb, 
 1672,j a notice of " Stucley 's expected arrrival in 
 Ireland ; Viscount Barry more, O'Neill, and Mac 
 Mahon, to rise on his landing." March 30, 1572, 
 the examination of a French merchant at Kinsale, 
 who reports that Don John of Austria has overthrown 
 the Turks in a great naval engagement ; that Stukeley 
 was in the fight, the bravest of the brave, that he has 
 been created Duke of Ireland, with 1000 ducats a- week. 
 
 "When James Fitzmaurice was prepared to sail, 
 Stukely deserted him, and embarked his forces with 
 those of the Portuguese monarch, for the coast of 
 Africa, where he fell at the battle of Alcazar, along 
 with the heroic Don Sebastian, king of Portugal, 
 Mahomet, son of Abdallah, king of Fey, and Abimeleck, 
 king of Morocco. 
 
 James Fitzmaurice, with three ships and a hundred 
 men, made a landing in Smerwick, on the west coast 
 of Kerry, in July, 1579. He was accompanied by 
 three famous English churchmen, Doctor Saunders, as 
 Papal Nuncio, a Jesuit named Allen, and O'Mulrian, 
 the Catholic Bishop of Killaloe.
 
 DOCTOR SATJNDERS, THE PAPAL NUNCIO. 241 
 
 Mageoghegan says that Saunders was " Anglios de 
 nation, et Legat Apostolique en Irelande." He describes 
 him " un homme d'une vie exemplaire, et tres zele 
 pour la cause catholique." * But adds, "Ilestpeint 
 sous d'autres conleurs par les auteurs Protestants, qui 
 le qualifient de traitre, et d'archi-rebelle." Cox, to 
 whom Mageoghegan probably refers, styles him " a 
 malicious, cunning, and indefatigable traytor." 
 
 Saunders, O'Mulrian, and Allen, marched in cano- 
 nicals at the head of the invaders, preceded by two 
 friars, bearing the Pope's standard (with a picture of 
 the crucifixion), which had been especially consecrated 
 for the expedition. Watchfircs blazed on the moun- 
 tains, and swift heralds passed through the country 
 announcing the place of gathering. The new slogan, 
 or war-cry, was PAPA ABOO ! 
 
 " Then Roderick, with impatient look, 
 From Brian's htndi the ijmbol took ; 
 Speed, Malise, speed ! he aid, and gave 
 The cross! et to the henchinaa brave ; 
 The muster place ii Lanark mead 
 Instant the time speed, Malise speed." 
 
 The first operation of the invaders was to raise a 
 fort on the peninsula, where they lauded ; which was 
 duly consecrated. Sir William Drury, who was at 
 this time in " Great Cork of Muuster," and who should 
 have gone in person to oppose the foreigners, sent 
 Henry Davells, the constable of Dungarvan, and 
 Arthur Carter, the provost-marshal of Minister, with 
 commands to the Earl of Desmond to besiege and 
 
 Tres zdlepow In cause catholique. " Ce saint homme epuise par la fatigue et 
 par la chagrin de voir triompher 1'impiete, mourut d'une flux de sang, dans uu bois, 
 ou il manquoit de tout secours, exeepte le spirituel, qui ltd fut admiuistre par 
 (.'orneille, Eveque de Killalow, qui ne le quitta, qu'a la inort." Mugceghegan 
 Hist, Irelanap, torn, iii., p. 448. 
 
 17
 
 242 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 raze the fort. Desmond and his brother John, at the 
 head of some Irish kerne and galloglasses, " made a 
 show" of attacking it. The Earl of Clanricarde did 
 the same, but was persuaded by Desmond to go home. 
 
 Davells and Carter, who were imprudently inquisi- 
 tive, and had learned more of the earl's disloyalty than it 
 was desirable they should carry back to Cork, were 
 followed by John and James, the earl's brothers, to 
 Tralee, and murdered in a house or inn near the earl's 
 residence. Another writer says, they were " beheaded 
 while asleep in their beds," in the house or castle of 
 the earl. Doctor Smith calls Henry Danvers, or 
 Davells, " an English gentleman, who was gossip to 
 Sir John of Desmond," and " high sheriff of the county 
 of Cork." He also mentions a Justice Mead as one of 
 the murdered party. Their servants or attendants 
 were also murdered. The professed or pretended pro- 
 vocation was their going to Tralee, to hold a gaol 
 delivery in the Desmond palatinate. It is more than 
 probable that they were looked upon as little better 
 than spies, and dealt with accordingly. O'Sullivan 
 styles this murder ' facinus dignum." Camden says 
 that Saunders called it " Suave Deo sacrificium." But 
 every right-minded man will say with the dying 
 patriarch, " Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and 
 their wrath, for it was cruel" 
 
 These men being despatched, Fitzmaurice prepared 
 to march into the county Limerick. From thence he 
 intended to visit Connaught, taking Holy- Cross, in 
 Tipperary, in his way, in order to accomplish a vow 
 he had taken in Spain. His men began to plunder the 
 country, and offer violence to females; Fitzmaurice
 
 DEATH OF FITZMATJRICE AND BURKE. 243 
 
 commanded that one of the ringleaders should be 
 hung, but John of Desmond would not hear of it. 
 In passing through the baronies of Connello and Clan- 
 william, the people assembled to oppose them, headed 
 by Theobald and Ulick, the sons of William Burke. 
 They overtook the invaders, who had halted in a wood. 
 Fitzmaurice, at an early period of the engagement, 
 received a ball in the chest ; the wound was mortal, 
 but it fired him to a last effort ; so clearing a passage 
 through the enemy's forces, he rushed up to Theobald 
 Burke, and with one blow of his sword, clave his head 
 in twain.* This decided the battle in his favor. But 
 he had not passed far from the scene of his conquest, 
 when the langour of death came over him. He made 
 a will in a few words, and ordered his friends to cut 
 off his head after his death, lest his enemies should 
 know him, and mangle his remains. O'Daly informs 
 us that his kinsman, Maurice had ordered his head 
 to be cut off, and his body to be concealed under 
 an aged tree,f where, not long after, it was found by 
 a hunter, brought to Kilmallock, hung on a gallows, 
 and fired at by a heretic. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth, to express her sympathy with the 
 sorrow of Sir William Burke, and her sense of his 
 sons' services to the state, created the father a peer of 
 the realm, under the title of Lord Baron of Castle- 
 Connell. Camden remarks, that the old man died 
 
 * Clone his head in twain. O'Daly, who compares Fitzmaurice to Achilles, 
 says he slew William as well as Theobald Burke : " He made a lane for himself 
 to where Theobald Burke stood, and with a single blow cleft his skull in twain, 
 and with another stroke killed his brother William." O'Daly, c. 22. The Four 
 Masters mention only Theobald. Camrten speaks of two brothers falling: 
 " Theobaldus et alter fratribus cum nonnullis suorum occubuerunt." 
 
 f Aged tree. Smith says the Jiead was left " wrapped in a blanket, under an 
 old oak."
 
 244 HISTOHY OF COEK. 
 
 soon after, overcome by joy -gaudio perfusus of his 
 new title. 
 
 Sir William Drury, accompanied by the Earl of 
 Kildare and Sir Nicholas Malby, left Cork, and pitched 
 his camp in the neighbourhood of Kilmallock. " Hither 
 the Earl of Desmond came to meet them, and endea- 
 voured to impress on their minds that he had no part 
 in bringing over James Fitzmaurice, or in any of the 
 crimes committed by his relatives, and he delivered up 
 to the Lord Justice his only son and heir as a hostage, 
 to ensure his loyalty and fidelity to the crown of Eng- 
 land. A promise was thereupon given to the earl that 
 his territory should not be plundered in future, but 
 although the promise was given, it was not kept, for 
 his people and cattle were destroyed, and his corn 
 and edifices burned." 
 
 Sir William Drury left the camp of Kilmallock at 
 the head of four hundred men, to search the wood of 
 Kilmore [Coill Mhor] in the county Cork. They fell 
 in with John and James Oge at Gort na Tiobrad, the 
 " field of the spring," or Springfield. A fierce engage- 
 ment ensued, in which the Lord Justice was defeated, 
 three hundred of his men and three of his captains 
 (namely Herbert, Eustace, and Price) having been 
 slain. The remnant of his army fled back to the camp 
 near Kilmallock. Sir William left Kilmallock for 
 Athneasy,* a ford on the Morning-star river, about 
 four miles to the east of Kilmallock. Here he took 
 his death sickness. Leaving Captain Malby to pro- 
 secute the war against the Geraldines, he was conveyed 
 in a chariot to Waterford, where he died. 
 
 * Athneaty, anciently Bel-atha-na-n Deise, i.e., the mouth of the ford f 
 Deis.
 
 SIR WILLIAM PELHAM SUCCEEDS DRURY. 245 
 
 He was succeeded by Sir William Pelham, who was 
 elected by the Irish council* on the llth of October, 
 1579, in Christ Church, Dublin. Pelham is described 
 by the Four Masters as " a gentleman of the queen's 
 people, who had come from England that very week." 
 The Earl of Ormond returned to Ireland the same 
 week, after a sojourn in England of three years. Ware 
 informs us that Ormond was, at this time, elected 
 governor of Munster, and Sir Warham St. Leger 
 provost-marshal, Ormond was unleashed when Des- 
 mond broke cover, and he held on his track, and was 
 in at the death. 
 
 Captain Malby, who was left in command by Drury, 
 followed the Geraldines to Askeaton, and overtook 
 them at Monaster-Neva,f about five miles to the north- 
 west of Bruff. We learn from the Four Masters that 
 the Irish forces were routed, with the loss of Thomas, 
 son of John Oge, and that " great spoils, consisting of 
 weapons and military attire," were left on the field. 
 Leland, who had the English and Irish accounts of the 
 battle before him, gives us the following, which ap- 
 pears the most circumstantial: 
 
 '* The [English] army consisted of nine hundred foot 
 and fifty horse. Of these three hundred infantry and 
 fifty horse were left in garrison at Kilmalloek ; and on 
 intelligence received that Sir John Desmond lay a few 
 miles distant from Limerick, with a considerable body, 
 Malby marched to attack him with the residue of his 
 
 Elected by tlie Irish council, This eletion could have conferred no more 
 than a temporary athority, till confirmed by the privy ouncil and Queen of 
 England. 
 
 f Monaster-Neva. It was anciently called Aenaeh-beag, ia the barony of 
 Pobble-Briin, ia the county Limerick. Here are the rums of a magnificent 
 abbey.
 
 246 HISTORY OF COKE. 
 
 forces. In a plain adjoining to an old abbey, called 
 Monaster-Nena (recte, Monaster Neva) he found the 
 rebels in array, to the number of about two thousand, 
 and prepared to give him battle. The papal standard 
 was 'displayed, and Allen, the Irish Jesuit, went 
 busily through the ranks distributing his benedictions, 
 and assuring them of victory. Their dispositions were 
 made, by direction of the Spanish officers, with an ad- 
 dress and regularity unusual to the Irish, and their 
 attack was so vigorous, and so obstinately maintained, 
 that the fortune of the day seemed doubtful. The 
 valour of the English at length prevailed ; the rebels 
 were routed, and pursued with considerable slaughter, 
 and among the slain was found the body of Allen, 
 who, not content with exhortation, had drawn the 
 sword in the cause of Rome." 
 
 When the Lord Justice, Sir William Pelham, came 
 to the South, the Earl of Desmond refused to join him. 
 He, with James, his brother, were, with sound of 
 trumpet, proclaimed traitors, on the 1st of November, 
 1579. He was now a desperate man. He raised the 
 standard of rebellion on the Ballyhowra mountains, 
 in this county, from which he descended like a torrent, 
 sweeping flocks and herds before him, not always 
 discriminating between friends and foes. He took his 
 first preys from the lands of the Lords Roche and 
 Barry. He then visited the town of Youghal (the 
 mayors of which had ever acted as his friends), and 
 sacked it in the most ruthless and savage way. 
 
 " They encamped before Youghal, and finally took 
 that town, which at that time was full of riches and 
 goods. The Geraldines seized upon all the riches they
 
 YOUGHAL SACKED BY DESMOND. 247 
 
 found in this town, excepting such gold and silver as 
 the merchants and burgesses had sent away in ships 
 before the town was taken. Many a poor indigent 
 became rich and affluent by the spoils of this town. 
 The Gera] dines levelled the wall of the town, and 
 broke down its courts and castles, and its buildings of 
 stone and wood, so as that it was not habitable for some 
 time afterwards." * Four Masters, A.D. 1519. 
 
 Holinshed's description is more circumstantial : 
 " The proclaimed traitor of Desmond and his brothers, 
 not able anie longer to shrowd his treacheries, went 
 with all his forces to the towne of Youghall, where 
 against his comming the gates of the towne were shut, 
 but yet it was thought but colourable, for verie 
 shortly after, without deniall or resistance, the earl 
 and all his troupe of rebels entered the town and 
 took it, and there remained about five daies, rifleing 
 and carrieing awaie the goods and household stuff to 
 the castell of Strangecallie and Lefinnen, the which 
 then were kept by the Spaniards." 
 
 The Earl of Ormond dispatched a barque, with 
 Captain White, from Waterford, " a very valiant man 
 of a stout stomach," to retake the town. He entered 
 by the water-gate, and took some pieces of ordnance. 
 He was attacked by the seneschal of Imokilly, at the 
 head of a superior force, whom he charged more 
 " rashlie than consideratlie," and was very soon sur- 
 rounded and slain ; and with much ado did a few of 
 his company gain their ship. 
 
 * Not habitable for some time afterwards " The Lord Governor, when he ame 
 to the town, fonnd it all desolate, rifled, and spoiled, and no man, woman, or 
 child therein, saving one friar, whom he spared, because he had fetched the body 
 of Henrie Davels, from Traleigh, and had it carried to Waterford, where it was 
 buried in the chancel of the cathedral church." JlolinsJted.
 
 248 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Shortly after this, Mr. P. Coppinger, the mayor of 
 Youghal for this year, 1579, fell into the hands of the 
 Earl of Ormond, was tried by court-martial, and hung 
 before his own door. He had, previous to the sacking 
 of the town, refused to admit an English garrison, 
 promising to defend the place to the last extremity ; 
 but on Desmond's approach, yielded it up, with a mere 
 semblance of opposition. 
 
 Holinshed says the Earl of Desmond carried the 
 " goods and household stuffe to the castle of Strange- 
 callie and Lefinnen, which were then kept by the 
 Spaniards." The ruins of Strancally castle are on the 
 Blackwater, between Youghal and Lismore, Doctor 
 Eyland, in his " History of Waterford," makes this 
 castle and cave quite a Giant Despair's residence. 
 "We must take the following description eum grano 
 salts : 
 
 " The castle of Strancally is situated on a high rock 
 on the bank of the Blackwater, which is here of 
 considerable breadth. The castle enjoyed a bold and 
 commanding situation, was fortified, and in every 
 respect a place of strength. From the foundation on 
 which it stood, an extensive subterranean cave, with 
 a passage communicating with the river, was cut 
 through the solid rock, and thus provided, the worthy 
 lords of Desmond were no contemptible imitators of 
 the ancient giants. It was the custom of these gentle 
 lords to invite their wealthy and distinguished neigh- 
 bours to partake of the festivities of Strancally, and 
 having thus gotten them into their power, the victims 
 were carried through the rocky passage into the dun- 
 geon, where they were suffered to perish, and from
 
 SPANIARDS Iff STEANCALLT CASTLE. 249 
 
 thence, through an opening which is still visible, their 
 corpses were cast into the river ; thus disposed of, 
 their fortunes became an easy prey. These practices 
 continued for a long time, until at length, one more 
 fortunate than his fellow-prisoners, escaped the final 
 doom, and gave information of the facts to government. 
 The castle and cave were immediately ordered to be 
 demolished by gunpowder." 
 
 To find Spaniards in the keeping of two strong 
 castles, like Strancally and Kilfinan, must have 
 stamped the Earl of Desmond as a traitor in the eyes 
 of a sovereign and people who had so lately escaped a 
 great Spanish invasion. Strancally was taken from 
 the Spaniards soon after the sacking of Youghal : 
 
 11 The Spaniards, who kept alwais good watch, and 
 had also verie good espials abrode, they were forthwith 
 advertised that a companie of souldiers were drawing 
 and marching towards the said castell, and when they 
 themselves saw it to be true, and had discovered them, 
 they began to distrust themselves, and to doubt of 
 their abilitie how to withstand them. Wherefore, 
 abandoning and forsaking the castell, they passed over 
 the water, thinking to recover the woods, and so to 
 escape the present danger. But Sir William Stanleie, 
 Capteine Zouch, Capteine Piers, Capteine Roberts, and 
 all their companies, did so egerlie follow and pursue 
 them, that in the end they overtook them, and slue all 
 or the most part of them, and so tooke the castell, 
 wherein the Lord Governour placed a ward." 
 
 We have an account next year, 1580, of the capture 
 and death of James Oge, one of the Earl of Desmond's 
 brothers, who made a raid into Muskerry. He was
 
 250 HISTORY OF COEZ. 
 
 captured and bound by a blacksmith, and hid in a bush 
 till the skirmish was over, and then delivered into the 
 hands of Sir Cormac Teige Mac Carthy, Lord of Mus- 
 kerry. Smith says, that for this service he was 
 knighted by the Chief Justice, and made High Sheriff 
 of the county. We think this is a mistake. Sir 
 Cormac Teige was knighted by Sir Henry Sydney in 
 1575, on the occasion of his visit to Cork. In 
 describing this visit, Sir Henry Sydney calls him Sir 
 Cormac Teige, and wishes him to be made a baron; 
 and says, that for " loyalty and civil disposition " he 
 was the " rarerst man that ever was born of the 
 Irishry." 
 
 "A.D. 1580. James Oge set out in rebellion to 
 seek a prey in Muskerry, but Cormac, the son of Teige 
 Mac Carthy, lord of the country, had all his forces 
 assembled to oppose him. Cormac being informed 
 that James had passed by him, proceeded to a certain 
 place through which he knew James would pass, and 
 he soon perceived James coming towards him with a 
 prey, and he attacked him, and slew and destroyed the 
 greater number of his people. James himself was 
 taken, and sent to Cork to be imprisoned. He was 
 [confined] nearly a month in this town, daily preparing 
 himself for death, doing penance for his sins, and 
 asking forgiveness for his misdeeds. At the end of 
 that time a writ arrived from Dublin, from the Lord 
 Justice and the council, ordering the mayor * to put 
 
 * Tlie mayor. This should be the marshal, Warham St. Leger, to -whom a 
 commission of martial law had been given, February 11, 1579. Cox says, that 
 Sir James was brought to Sir Warham St. Leger and Captain Sir Walter Ealeigh, 
 who caused him to be hung, drawn, and quartered. We doubt that Sir Walter 
 Ealeigh, who came to Ireland in the Autumn of 1580, with Lord Grey, could 
 have had anything to do with this execution.
 
 SIR WILLIAM PELHAM'S CAMPAIGN. 251 
 
 that noble youth to death, and cut him in quarters 
 and little pieces, This was accordingly done." 
 
 James Fitzgerald, the son of John Oge, and James, 
 the son of Maurice, were slain the same year. The 
 former fell in a skirmish in Limerick, with Brian Duv, 
 the lord of Pobble-Brien, and the latter was shot in 
 the gateway of Youghal. 
 
 Sir William Pelham now opens a fearful campaign 
 against the Earl of Desmond, and all his kith and kin. 
 He writes to England, requesting that an admiral, with 
 a fleet containing ordnance and provisions, should sail 
 round to the coast of Kerry. Vice- Admiral Winter is 
 despatched to cruise about a coast upon which a 
 Spanish or Italian landing was daily and hourly 
 apprehended. Sir William commences his muster, and 
 enrols beneath his standard " all who were subject to 
 the laws, from the Boyne to the meeting of the Three 
 Waters." The Earl of Ormond joined this muster 
 with an immense host. The camp was pitched in Hy- 
 Connello. It was " cold spring." Marauding parties 
 were let loose in Kilmore and the wilds of Delliga, and 
 in Kilbolane, who shewed mercy to none, " It was not 
 wonderful they should kill men fit for action, but they 
 killed blind* and feeble men, women, boys and girls, 
 sick persons, idiots and old people, carrying off their 
 cattle and provisions." In some instances, the people 
 retaliated, and a great number of the English were 
 slain. 
 
 The Lord Justice and the Earl of Ormond marched 
 
 * Blini." He put to death Faltach of Dun-Maolin, a man who tad beeu 
 blind from his birth. He also killed John Supple, of Cill-Mochna, whom it was 
 not becoming to have killed for ha was upwards of one hundred years of age." i 
 low Masters, A.D. 1580.
 
 252 HISTORY OP COBK, 
 
 from Cork to Tralee. The Earl of Ormond lost a 
 number of Ids men on the march, from fatigue and 
 scarcity of food. They were seized in Buttevant 
 with a strange sickness called the " gentle correction" 
 Cox says the whole army was affected by it, but none 
 died. 
 
 The Four Masters' description of the Lord Justice's 
 artillery, at the siege of Carrig an Phuill, or " the 
 Eock of the Hole," is amusing: " "When the warders 
 of Askeaton and other castles heard the tremendous 
 terror- Wat ing roars of those unknown guns, the like 
 of which had never been heard before, they began 
 to demolish their castles with their own hands, 
 leaving the gates of these which they could not demo- 
 lish wide open to the conqueror. There was not a 
 solitude, a wilderness, a declivity, or woody vale, from 
 the Cearn of Breas to Cnox-Meadha-Sieril, in which 
 the roar of these wonderful cannon was not heard, and 
 all who heard trembled. James Eustace, son of 
 Eoland, son of Thomas, broke down his castles." 
 
 The new Lord Deputy, Arthur Lord Grey, came to 
 Ireland the 12th of August, 1580, to supersede the 
 Lord Chief Justice, Sir William Pelham. Pelham 
 went to Dublin the 6th of September, and surrendered 
 the sword of office (which he had sharpened and used 
 with tremendous effect) into the hands of his successor. 
 Lord Grey, as the Four Masters observe, was " of 
 higher title and honors" than Sir William, but there 
 never came to Ireland an Englishman more energetic 
 or triumphant than the latter. Grey was accompanied 
 by Captain Sir Walter Ealeigh, and the poet, Spenser, 
 as his secretary.
 
 SPANIARDS AND ITALIANS AT SiTERWICK. 253 
 
 A hosting was made this year, 1580, by the Lord 
 Deputy and Captain Malby, against the Kavanaghs, 
 Kinsellaghs, O'Byrnes, and O'Toole's, who had flocked 
 round the standard of James Eustace. Eustace had 
 just renounced the " reformed faith," and his allegiance 
 to the queen. It was on this occasion that Peter 
 Carew, the elder brother of Sir George Carew (of whom 
 we have much to say) was slain, with Master John 
 Moor, Master Francis Cosby, and many other gentle- 
 men who had come from England with Lord Grey. 
 
 A fleet, composed of Italian and Spanish troops, 
 landed at Dun-an-Oir* or the "Fort of Gold," in the 
 harbour of Smerwick, in Kerry, this year. The fort 
 stood on a small islet, whose perpendicular sides rise 
 fifty feet above the sea. 
 
 The Lord Deputy writes to Burleigh for aid, and 
 tells him to stand stoutly to the helm, as a great storm 
 is at hand. He could not borrow more than two hun- 
 dred pounds in Dublin on the security of the state. 
 He adds, " I will visit the guests with the adventure 
 of my life." 
 
 The Earl of Ormond, of whose generalship or cou- 
 rage we have no great opinion, mustered his forces and 
 advanced into Kerry, and marched up the hill which 
 commanded the fort, marked its deep trenches and 
 impregnable ramparts, and then marched down again, 
 and away. A fine army of the Geraldines were there 
 to meet him, but they did not come to blows. 
 
 The Lord Deputy resolves to visit Kerry against 
 
 * Dun an-Oir. It is thus described by O'Sullivan Beare: "Est in eo portu 
 Aruacantum, qua Anglis Smeruic vocutur juxta Danguiuam oppidum scopulus 
 Aureutu Munimentnm vocaiit accolae natura satis munitus, partim marinis iluutibus 
 ail u t us, partial rupibus altis pnucissus, cum contiueuti sublicio ponte conjuctus."
 
 254 HISTORY OP CORK. 
 
 the advice of Ormond. He approaches the fort, and 
 sends chosen parties to reconnoitre each day. The 
 place seems impregnable. It cannot be stormed. They 
 play on it for " four days," says Camden, for " forty 
 days," says O'Daly. Hard shot has no effect on these 
 Italians or Spaniards. They must try soft words. 
 Communications are opened between the governor of 
 the fort and the Lord Deputy. Sebastian, or Stephen 
 de San Josepho, whom Camden calls "homo imbellis" 
 it is difficult to imagine what brought a homo imbellis 
 there accompanied by Hercules Pisano and the Duke 
 of Biscay, waited on Lord Grey, and were graciously 
 received, and honorable terms promised on surrender. 
 San Josepho surrendered, was made, with his friends, 
 prisoners of war, and every soldier in the fort, to the 
 number of seven hundred, butchered in cold blood. 
 
 Edmund Spenser, Lord Grey's private secretary, 
 emphatically denies that their lives were promised. 
 Grey was Spenser's beau ideal of a warrior; he figures 
 in the " Fairie Queen " as his " Talus with the Iron 
 Flail." The poet's friend, Sir Walter Raleigh, was 
 also mixed up with this bloody affair. But let us hear 
 Spenser, for he was in Grey's camp, and present at the 
 conference between the deputy and the officers from 
 the fort. The account occurs in the imaginary dia- 
 logue between Ireneus and Eudoxus : 
 
 " EUDOX. But in that sharp execution of the 
 Spaniards at the fort of Smerwick, I heard it specially 
 noted, and if it were true, as some reported, surely it 
 was a great touch to him in honor, for some say that 
 he promised them life, others, at least he did put them 
 in hope thereof.
 
 THE MASSACRE AT SMERWICK. 255 
 
 " THEN. Both the one and the other is most un- 
 true ; for this I can assure you, myself being as near 
 them as any, that he was so far either from promising, 
 or putting them in hope, that when first their secre- 
 tary (called, as I remember, Signior Jeffrey), an 
 Italian, being sent to treat with the Lord Deputy for 
 grace, was flatly refused ; and afterwards their colonel, 
 named Don Sebastian, came forth to entreat that they 
 might part with their arms like soldiers, at least with 
 their lives, according to the custom of war and law of 
 nations, it was strongly denied him, and told him by 
 the Lord Deputy himself, that they could not justly 
 plead either custom of war or law of nations, for that 
 they were not any lawful enemies, and if they were, 
 he willed them to show by what commission they came 
 thither into another prince's dominions to war, whether 
 from the Pope, or the King of Spain, or any other. 
 
 " When they said they were only adventurers, come 
 to seek fortune abroad, and to serve in wars amongst 
 the Irish, it was told them that the Irish themselves, 
 as the Earl and John of Desmond, with the rest, were 
 no lawful enemies, but rebels and traitors, and there- 
 fore they that came to succour them, no better than 
 rogues and runagates, so as it would be dishonorable 
 for him, in the name of his queen, to make any terms 
 with such rascals ; but left them to their choice to 
 yield or submit themselves, or no. Whereupon, the 
 said colonel did absolutely yield himself and the fort, 
 with all therein, and craved only mercy ; which, it being 
 not thought good to show them, for danger of them, 
 if, being saved, they should afterwards join the Irish." 
 
 But we have higher authority than Edmund Spenser,
 
 256 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 the Lord Deputy's secretary, and that is the Deputy 
 himself. He told the Spanish commander, San Joseph, 
 that " no condition or composition were they to expect, 
 other than they shuld simplie render me the forte, and 
 yield themselves to my will for lyf or deth." He then 
 goes on to say, "Morning came; I presented my 
 forces in bataille before the forte ; the coronel, with 
 ten or twelve of his chief gentlemen, came trayling 
 their ensigns, rolled up, and presented them to me 
 with their lives, and the forte. I sent straighte 
 certeyne gentlemen to see their weapons and armoires 
 laid down, and to guard the munition and victual then 
 left from spoyle. Then put I in certeyne bandes, who 
 sireighte fell to execution. There were six hundred 
 slayn." 
 
 Cox, who had no love for either Spaniard or Italian, 
 says, that the garrison " yielded at mercy, which was 
 too sparingly extended towards them." Leland says, 
 " The garrison was butchered in cold blood ;" nor is it 
 without pain that he finds "a service so horrible and 
 detestable committed to Sir Walter Kaleigh." We are 
 informed by the same writer that the queen expressed 
 the utmost concern and displeasure at this baibarous 
 execution. The faith ef Lord Grey, or " Fides Greia" 
 was long after this for a proverb and a bye-word in 
 Munster. This nobleman lived long enough to lose 
 all favor at court, and what is more remarkable, was 
 found to be deeply implicated in the " Treason of the 
 Bye," or the " Priests' Treason." He expected to be 
 made Marshal of the Horse under the new regime. It 
 was well named, with such an agent, the " Surprising 
 Treason."
 
 RALEIGH AND LORD BARRY. 257 
 
 We find Captain Ealeigh in Cork this year. He 
 seems to have had a constable's commission for arrest- 
 ing persons suspected of disloyalty, and, to do him 
 justice, manifested as much zeal as foolish daring in 
 the discharge of his office. He sets out from Cork to 
 Dublin to make a complaint to his patron, Lord Grey, 
 of the Barrys and Condons, for assisting the rebels, 
 and receives instructions to besiege the castle of Barrys- 
 Court, which he sets about with a will. But he had 
 to deal with resolute and cunning men. Lord Barry 
 fired his castle of Barrys-Court, and his friend, Fitz- 
 gerald, the seneschal of Imokilly, set an ambush for 
 the English captain on his return. They lay on the 
 banks of the stream, near the old abbey from which 
 Midleton derived its ancient name of Chore Alley* 
 The place where Ealeigh crossed (near Mr. Murphy's 
 distillery) is pointed out to the present day. Holm- 
 shed's account of the affair is amusing enough : 
 
 " Captain Ealeigh, not mistrusting any thing, had 
 with him only two horsemen, four shot on horseback, 
 and a guide, who was servant to John Fitz-Edmonds, of 
 Cloyne, then a good subject to the queen, and who 
 knew every corner of the country. Being arrived at 
 the ford, the seneschal observing him alone, having 
 outrode his men, clapt spurs to his horse, and crossed 
 him in the water ; however, Ealeigh regained the other 
 side, at which time his guide thought proper to forsake 
 him, and fled towards an adjacent ruined castle for 
 shelter. 
 
 Cliore Abbey, The neighbouring village of Ballinacurra derived its nam 
 from a ford on the same stream. It was anciently called Dally na- chore, or th 
 " Twn of the Ford." 
 
 18
 
 258 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 " Henry Moile, one of "Raleigh's servants, riding 
 about a bow-shot before the rest of his company, 
 was, by this time, got into the middle of the water, 
 when his horse foundered, and threw him ; and being 
 afraid of the seneschal's men, he cried out to the 
 captain to save his life, who returned, and recovered 
 both him and his horse ; and then Moile, being over 
 eager to leap up, sprung over the horse, and fell into 
 an adjacent mire ; and the horse ran away full speed. 
 Ealeigh, with his staff in one hand, and his pistol 
 cocked in the other, continued to wait in the ford, till 
 the arrival of his four men, and his servant Jen kin, 
 who had about two hundred pounds in money about 
 him ; and though the seneschal had with him twelve 
 horse, and several shot, yet neither he nor any of them, 
 though twenty to one, durst attack him ; but continued 
 to abuse him, with scurrilous speeches, until the 
 arrival of his men." 
 
 Ealeigh met the seneschal soon after, and charged 
 him with cowardice, in the presence of the Earl of 
 Ormond, to which Fitzgerald made no reply. He 
 afterwards sent him a challenge by the White Knight, 
 offering to meet him, man for man, and cross the river 
 at the same place, which Fitzgerald deeming prudence 
 the better part of valour declined. That the sene- 
 schal was no coward, but a man of personal daring, is 
 evinced by his assault on the town of Youghal, two 
 years after this, in 1582. 
 
 Sir Walter Ealeigh's next daring and unwise expe- 
 dition was against Lord Eoche, whom Doctor Smith 
 styles a " nobleman well-beloved in the country." We 
 have a State Paper by Lord Burleigh, containing his
 
 RALEIGH AND LORD ROCHE. 259 
 
 opinion of the " suspected lordes and captains " of 
 Munster. '* The Earl of Clancare never was good, 
 and never will be. The Lord Barrymore, the subtlest 
 foxe that ever Munster bredd. The Lord Roche, 
 amongst manie bad, / thinJce the best" 
 
 Raleigh left Cork at ten o'clock at night, with 
 ninety men, for Castletown, the residence of Lord 
 Roche. He approached the gate as a benighted travel- 
 ler, and asked admittance. When the gites were 
 opened, he and his party pressed in. He saw Lord 
 Roche, and was invited to supper. He supped, and 
 after supper informed his hospitable host, that he had 
 orders to convey him and his lady to Cork. The 
 seneschal of Imokilly and David Barry, prepared a 
 force to intercept them. It was a tempestuous and 
 rainy night, on which no lady should have been asked 
 to travel. Raleigh gained the city by day -break. There 
 is but one apology for Raleigh's unknightly conduct, 
 but it is a good one: "Zouch ordered him to take 
 Lord Roche and his lady prisoners, and bring them to 
 Cork." The same excuse holds good as it regards the 
 massacre at Smerwick Raleigh acted under orders. 
 The little we know of Raleigh in Ireland is not to his 
 credit, if we except the introduction of the potato. But 
 this should cover a multitude of sins. 
 
 The Captain Zouch, under whom Raleigh acted, was 
 made Governor-General of the province under the 
 Deputy Lord Grey. Hearing that Sir John of Des- 
 mond, the Earl's brother, and James Fitz-John, his 
 warder of Strancally castle, were in the neighbourhood 
 of Castle-Lyons, he resolved, if possible, to seize them. 
 John is described by the Four Masters at this time as
 
 260 HISTOHY OF COKE. 
 
 a sort of Irish Eobin Hood, " a roving and wandering 
 plunderer." 
 
 " The manner in which John lived on his mountain 
 was worthy of a true plunderer, for he slept upon 
 couches of stone or earth, and drank of the pure cold 
 streams, from the palms of his hands or his shoes; and 
 his only cooking utensils were the long twigs of the 
 forest for dressing the flesh meat carried away from 
 his enemies." The following is the Four Masters* 
 account of his death : 
 
 " John set out, accompanied by four horsemen, for 
 the woods of Eatharlach, to hold a conference with 
 Barry More, with whom he had entered into a plun- 
 dering confederacy. He proceeded southwards across 
 the river Avonmore, in the middle of a dark and misty 
 day, and happened to be met, front to front and face 
 to face, by Captain Siuitsi [Zouch] with his forces, 
 though neither of them was in search of the other. 
 John was mortally wounded on the spot, and had not 
 advanced the space of a mile beyond that place when 
 he died. He was carried crosswise on his own steed, 
 with his face downwards, from thence to Cork, and 
 when brought to that town, he was cut in quarters, 
 and his head was sent to Dublin* as a token of vic- 
 tory." 
 
 The Four Masters are in error in saying that neither 
 was in search of the other. A spy, named Eichard 
 Mac James, induced one of Desmond's followers to 
 accompany him to Captain Zouch, who bribed Mac 
 James to report that he, Zouch, was on the point of 
 
 * His head sent to Dublin. His body hung in chains at one of the gates of 
 Cork for three years, and one stormy night was blown into the river, and carrie d 
 to the sea. Vide O'Daly, o. 23. (TSuliivan Bcare Hitt. CatM. Iber.fol. 99.
 
 THE OUTLAWED EARL OF DESMOND. 261 
 
 starting for Limerick. This report put John of Des- 
 mond off his guard. O'Daly says, that Thomas 
 Fleming, formerly a servant of Sir John of Desmond, 
 plunged a spear into his master's throat ; that Zouch 
 wished to take him alive. James Fitz-John, the war- 
 der of Strancally castle, was slain at the same time. 
 
 The condition of the old outlawed Earl of Desmond 
 was almost desperate. His pursuers, headed by this 
 Captain Zouch, were every day narrowing the circla 
 around him. But he generally managed to break 
 through, and either to distance his pursuers or keep 
 them at bay. He was surrounded by a band of 
 desperate men, called the " Old Children of the Wood," 
 who betook themselves to the wilds near the Lakes of 
 Killarney. It was before dawn on Sunday morning, 
 the 4th of January, 1581. The encampment was near 
 Aghadoe. The remains of a round tower now mark 
 the spot. The earl and countess, who had sat by the 
 watch fires all night, were buried in deep sleep when 
 they were startled by the cry of alarm, and the hoofs of 
 Captain Zouch' s cavalry. They barely escaped he in 
 his shirt to the bank of the neighboring river, where 
 they remained for two or three hours "up to their 
 chins in water." Desmond took the earliest oppor- 
 tunity of revenging this surprise. 
 
 A.D. 1581. " A hosting was made by the Earl of 
 Desmond, at the end of the month of September, into 
 the plains lying far and wide around Cashel, in Muns- 
 ter, and into Cashel itself. His forces seized upon 
 great quantities of all sorts of property, such as cop- 
 per, iron, clothing, apparel, and great and small 
 cattle." They were pursued by a large fores, on
 
 2G2 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 which the earl turned, slaying four hundred men, and 
 increasing his plunder " with many steeds and other 
 spoils." 
 
 In the summer of the next year he made a success- 
 ful hosting into the country of his old foes, the 
 Butlers, and left the hill on which he fought " speckled 
 with the bodies of the slain." In the autumn he 
 made an incursion upon the O'Keeffes of Kerry, who 
 rose en masse against him: "When the earl heard 
 the bustling of the kerns, and the report of their 
 ordnance, he rose up suddenly, rushed upon O'Keeffe, 
 and routed him back the same passage by which he 
 had come, and almost all the pursuers were slain. 
 O'Keeffe himself, i. e. Art, the son of Donnell, son of 
 Art, and his son, Art Oge, were taken prisoners, and 
 Hugh, another of his sons, was slain. The son of the 
 Yicar O'Scoly was also taken prisoner on this occasion, 
 and was afterwards hanged." 
 
 Desmond had become nothing more nor less than a 
 lawless bandit, preying upon all, and, as a natural 
 consequence, hunted down by all. ''The earl, without 
 rest anywhere, fleeth from place to place, and maketh 
 mediation for peace by the countess, "whose abun- 
 dance of tears bewrayeth sufficientlie the miserable 
 state both of herself, her husband, and their followers." 
 11 Again the earl is unhowsed of all his goods, and 
 must now tread the woods and bogs, which he will do as 
 unwieldly as any man in the world of his age. He 
 shrowded himself in glyns and swamps, and in the 
 winter, 1582, kept a cold Christmas in Kilqueg woods." 
 But let us hasten to the close. 
 
 " A.D. 1583. The Earl of Ormond was governor of
 
 EARLS OF ORMOND AND DESMOND. 263 
 
 the two provinces of Minister this year, and the Earl 
 of Desmond became confirmed in his treason and insur- 
 rection, and proceeded to ravage the country during 
 the winter and the spring of the following year. His 
 people, however, were so much in dread and awe of 
 the law and the sovereign of England, that they began 
 to separate from him, even his own married wife,* 
 children and friends, so that he had but four persons 
 to acompany him from one cavern of a rock, or hollow 
 of a tree, to another. 
 
 The Earl of Ormond writes the queen : 
 " ORMOND to the QUEEN, 
 
 " There have been six score traitors put to the sword and exe- 
 cuted since my coming. Desmond being long since fled over the 
 mountaine into Kerry e, is now gone to seek relief by such spoils as 
 he can take from the Earl of Clancartie, (his brother-in-law), 
 Captain Barkley having followed him thither, to aid the Earl of 
 Clancartie. I have sent Sir Cormok Mac Tiege and Sir William 
 Stanley towards Castlemaine to lie for him thereabout (if, in the 
 meantime, they met him not), myself with my horsemen intend to 
 lie out this side of the mountaine for him. I find your majesty's 
 opinion proveth true, for since I kept him from the counties of 
 Waterford and Tipperary, his men have been forced many times to 
 eat horses and carrion, and being now kept from cows in the 
 mountains of Desmond, famine will destroy them as daily it doth. 
 God send them all the plague I wish them, and bless your majesty 
 with a most happy reign. 
 
 "Tnos. OKMOND & Oss. 
 
 "Cork, 24 April, 1583." 
 
 His death is thus described : 
 " When the beginning of winter and the long nights 
 set in, the insurgents and robbers of Munster began to 
 
 * His own married wife. We look upon this as a foul slander of the Four 
 Masters. This lady was the daughter of Lord Dunboyue. She was the mother 
 of James, the Parliamentary Earl, and five daughters. She married a secoud 
 time, 0' Conor Sligo, and lived till 1G36.
 
 264: HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 collect about him, and prepared to rekindle the torch 
 of war. But God thought it time to suppress, close, 
 and finish this war of the Geraldines, which was done 
 in the following way: A party of the O'Moriartys, 
 of the Mang's side, of the race of Aedh-Bean- 
 nan, took an advantage of the Earl of Desmond, 
 whom they found in an unprotected position ; he was 
 concealed in a hut, in the cavern of a rock, in Gleann- 
 an-Ghinntigh. This party remained on the watch 
 around this habitation of the earl, from the beginning 
 of the night to the dawning of day ; and then, in the 
 morning twilight, they rushed into the cold hut. This 
 was on Tuesday, which was St. Martin's festival. 
 They wounded the earl, and took him prisoner, for he 
 had not along with him any people able to make fight 
 or battle, excepting one woman and two men servants. 
 They had not proceeded far from the wood, when they 
 suddenly beheaded the earl." 
 
 The Four Masters say, that the Moriartys " took 
 advantage of the Earl of Desmond." It has been long 
 doubted whether the Moriartys knew it was the Earl 
 of Desmond till after he was slain. But this doubt is 
 removed by a letter from Ormond to the privy council, 
 in the State Paper office : 
 
 "OHMOND to the PKIVY COUNCIL. Nov. 15th, 1583. 
 
 " In my way now from Dublin I received news of the killing of 
 the traitors Gorehe, McSwiny, (captain of galloglass,) the only 
 man that relieved the Earl of Desmond in his extreme misery ; ani 
 the next day after my coming hither to Kilkenny, I received certain 
 word that Donall Moriarty, (of whom at my last being in Kerry, I 
 took assurance to serve against Desmond.) being accompanied with 
 25 kerne of his own sept, and six of the ward of Castlemaine, the
 
 THE EARL OF DESMOND SLAJN. 2C5 
 
 1 1th of this month at night, assaulted the Earl in his cabin, in a 
 place called Glanageenty, near the river of the Mang, and slew him, 
 whose, head I have sent for, and appointed his body to be hung up 
 in chains at Cork. 
 
 "Tnos. OBMOND ET Oss." 
 
 O'Daly, who calls Owen Mac Daniel Moriarty an 
 inhuman villian, has to admit that the earl's people 
 acted barbarously, and gave the traitor great provoca- 
 tion : "It unfortunately happened, that those who 
 were sent by the earl to seize the prey, barbarously 
 robbed a noble matron, whom they left naked in the 
 field." This noble matron, or as she is styled by Cox, 
 " a poor woman of the Moriartas," was Owen Moriarty's 
 sister. We learn from the same writer, that it was a 
 soldier named Kelly * who actually slew the earl. With 
 the first stroke he almost cut off his arm, when the old 
 man cried " I am the Earl of Desmond, spare my 
 life!" Cox says, "Kelly would have spared him> 
 were it not that he bled so fast that he could not live, 
 therefore he immediately cut of his head." It would 
 appear from this, that the earl was decapitated before 
 Moriarty had entered the hut. 
 
 The head was carried to the Earl of Ormond, the 
 Earl of Desmond's step-son, who had it pickled and 
 placed in a pipkin, and forwarded as a present to the 
 queen. It was a dish fit for Herodias. It was accom- 
 panied by the following letter : 
 
 " OKMOND to WALSINGHAM, 
 
 " I do send Her Highness, (for proof of the good success of the 
 service, and the happy end thereof), by this bearer, the principal 
 
 * A soldier named Kelly. The queen, in a letter dated December 14th, 1685, 
 ordered that " Her well-beloved subject and toldier, Daniel Kelly, who slew the 
 late traytor, Desmond, for his very good service therein, should have, at least, for 
 thirty years, without fine, so much of her lands, spiritual or temporal, as should 
 amount to 30 sterling per annum."
 
 266 HISTORY OP CORK. 
 
 traitor, Desmond's head, as the best token of the same, and proof of 
 my faithful service and travail ; whereby her charges may be 
 diminished, and as to her princely pleasure shall be thought meet. 
 
 " THOS. ORM.OND ET Oss. 
 "Nov. 28th, 1583." 
 
 The head was impaled on London bridge. The 
 people of the district still point to the spot where the 
 earl was killed, called Bothar-an-Iarla, in the townland 
 of Gleann-an-Ghiuntigh, now Glanageenty, about five 
 miles to the east of Tralee ; and to an old tree, beneath 
 which his body lay concealed, till it was carried away 
 for interment to the small chapel of Kilnamanagh, near 
 Castle-Island. 
 
 Thus miserably perished Garrett, the sixteenth Earl 
 of Desmond. His fate makes a mournful page of Irish 
 history, although " he was given to plunder and insur- 
 rection." The great house or family of Desmond fell 
 with him. He left a son, James, called the Parlia- 
 mentary Earl of Desmond, and a nephew, James Fitz- 
 Thomas, called the Sugan Earl, but Garrett may be 
 styled the last. 
 
 " Of their names in heavenly records now 
 Is no memorial; hlotted out and rased, 
 For their rebellion, from the Book of Life." 
 
 Milton's Paradise Lost. 
 
 The Four Masters record this year the deaths of 
 David Lord Koche, his wife Lady Ellen, and Eveleen 
 Roche, the Countess of Thomond, and sister of David 
 Eoche. 
 
 " A.D. 1583. Roche, t. e. David, son of Maurice, (son of David 
 son of Maurice) and his wife Ellen, the daughter of James, son of
 
 DEATH OF SIR CORMAC MAC TEIGE. 267 
 
 Edmond Mac Pierce, died in the one month, in the spring of this 
 year. There did not exist of all the old English in Ireland, a 
 couple possessing only a barony, of more renown than they." 
 
 We learn from this that Lady Eoche was a Fitz- 
 gerald. The Four Masters, speaking of James, the 
 Bishop of Kerry, who died this year, 1583, say, "This 
 bishop was a vessel full of wisdom. He was of the 
 stock of Clan-Pierce, of the race of Eaymond, the son 
 of William Fitzgerald, the brother of Maurice, who 
 came from the king of England at the time of the first 
 invasion of Ireland." 
 
 " A.D. 1583. The Countess Roche [recte Countess of Tho- 
 mond]* namely, Eveleen, the daughter of Maurice, son of David 
 Koche, and wife of the Earl of Thomond (Donough, the son of Conor 
 O'Brien) died in the summer of this year at Clonroad, and was 
 buried in the monastery of Ennis." 
 
 The death of Sir Cormac Mac Teige, of whom Sir 
 Henry Sydney said " for his loyalty and civil disposi- 
 tion, he was the rarest man that ever was born of the 
 Irishry," is thus recorded: " Cormac, son of Teige, son 
 of Cormac Oge Mac Carthy, lord of Muskerry, a comely- 
 shaped, bright-countenanced man, who possessed most 
 white-washed edifices, fine built castles and hereditary 
 seats of any of the descendants of Eoghan More." 
 
 We conclude that white-washing houses was intro- 
 duced into Ireland about this time, by the English. 
 An Irish poet, speaking of the death of Hugh Maguire, 
 Lord of Fermanagh, who slew Sir Warham St. Leger 
 near Cork, says, *' The memory of the lime-ivhite man- 
 sions his right hand hath laid in ruins, warms the hero's 
 
 * Keetc Countess of Thomond. The habit of calling women by their maiden 
 names after marriage prevails to some extent in Ireland even to the present day.
 
 268 HISTOEY OF COBK. 
 
 heart" James, the younger brother of the Earl of 
 Desmond, found the " white- washed edifices " of Sir 
 Comae Mac Teige, of Blarney, no more than " whited 
 sepulchres." Sir Cormac was sheriff of the county 
 when that "noble youth" was put to death, and cut 
 in quarters and little pieces. Desmond was caught 
 taking a prey on Sir Cormac's lands. 
 
 His principal residence was Blarney castle. "We 
 have no hesitation in saying, that the word blarney has 
 derived its peculiar significance from this loyal, rare, 
 civil, comely-shaped, bright-countenanced man. 
 
 Aenghus O'Daly, when describing the reception he 
 received from Sir Cormac Teige' s successor, says, 
 " Flattery I got for food in Great Musgraidhe of Mac 
 Diarmoda." Doctor O'Donovan, who has edited this 
 interesting poem of the " Tribes of Ireland," says, 
 " This is the earliest notice of the bladhmann or blarney 
 of Munster we have yet read." Clarence Mangan's 
 versified paraphrase of the Irish, with a few variations, 
 runs thus : 
 
 " Mac Dermod of Mnskerry, you have a way, 
 Which at least I must term odd. You gave me, Mac Dermod, 
 With a great deal of blarney, a wine-glass of whey. 
 Before I could reach Uallincollick, 
 I thought I'd have died with your frolic."
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A PARLIAMENT THE UNDERTAKERS FLORENCE MAC GARTH Y 
 
 O'NEILL AND O'DONNELL. 
 
 AD. 15841598. 
 
 ' 
 
 SIR JOHN PERROTT returned to Ireland the 21st of 
 June, 1584, in the capacity of Lord Deputy, and was 
 sworn in the 26th of June. He was accompanied by 
 Sir John Norris as the President of Munster. " A 
 general peace was proclaimed throughout all Ireland, 
 and the two provinces of Munster* in particular, after 
 the decapitation of the Earl of Desmond." The very 
 embers of rebellion seemed to have been trodden out by 
 the Earl of Ormond's and Captain Zouch's cavalry, and 
 quenched in the blood of the outlawed and decapitated 
 earl. There was not a single Geraldine able to bear 
 arms in Ireland, who did not become obedient to the 
 law, except Maurice Fitzgerald, f and he fled, with a 
 company of five persons, across the " green-streamed 
 Shannon," to Sorley Boy, son of MacDonnell, from 
 Sorley Boy to Scotland, and from Scotland to Spain, 
 where he died. 
 
 The two provinces of Munster. The part of Munster south of the Black- 
 water, and middle Munster, between the Blackwater and Limerick. 
 
 f Maurice Fitzgerald. The Four Masters style him Maurice, the son of John 
 Oge, son of John, son of Thomas, the earl that is Thomas Moyle, the 12th earl 
 of Desmond.
 
 270 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 The time had, therefore, arrived for summoning a 
 parliament^ and for confiscating Garrett's vast estates. 
 A large number of Anglo-Norman lords, English 
 adventurers, and Irish chieftains, were in attendance. 
 " Where the carcase is, there will the eagles be 
 gathered together.' 5 
 
 " A.D. 1585. A proclamation of parliament was 
 issued to the men of Ireland, commanding their chiefs 
 to assemble in Dublin precisely on May- day, * for 
 the greater part of the people of Ireland, were, at this 
 time, obedient to their sovereign ; and according they 
 all, at that summons, did meet in Dublin, face to 
 face." 
 
 The parliament assembled in Dublin, the 2Cth of 
 April. The Four Masters mention the names of a 
 number of Irish chieftains, who repaired to this par- 
 liament, although they did not take their seats j* as 
 members. 
 
 " To this parliament repaired some of the chiefs of the descen- 
 dants of Eoghan More, J with their descendants, namely, Mac 
 Carthy More 1 (Donnell, the son of Donnell, son of Corinac 
 Ladhrach ;) Mac Carthy Cairbreach, (Owen, son of Donnell, son of 
 Fineen, son of Donnell, son of Dermot-an Duna,) and the sons of 
 his two brothers, namely, Donnell, son of Cormac-na-h-Aine, and 
 Fineen, the son of Donough. 
 
 Thither also went the two chiefs who were at strife with each 
 
 * Precisely on May-day. According to a document in the Roll's Office, Dublin, 
 this parliament assembled on the 26th of April, 1585. It was prorogued the 29th 
 of May, of the same year, and dissolved the 14th of May, 1586. 
 
 t Take their seats as members. See list of Lords spiritual! and temporall 
 that were "summoned nnto the parliament holden before the Right Honorable 
 Sir John Perrott, Knyght, Lord Deputie Generall of the realme of Ireland, 
 XXVI die Aprilis, anno regni regine nostre Elizabeth vicesimo septimo ; " 
 printed in the third appendix to Wardiman's edition of the Statue of Kilkenny, 
 p. 139. 
 
 J Eogh-an More, the ancestor of all the principal Irish chieftains of the "king- 
 n of Cork," was king of Munster in the third century.
 
 CONFISCATION OF DESMOND'S ESTATES. 271 
 
 other concerning the lordship of Duhallow, namely, Dermot, the 
 son of Owen, son of Donough-an-Bhothair, son of Owen, son of 
 Donough, and Donough, the son of Gormac Oge, son of Cormac, 
 son of Donough. 
 
 Thither likewise went O'Sullivan Beare, (Owen, son of Dermot, 
 son of Donnell, son of Donough, son of Dermot Balbh ;) O'Sullivan 
 More, (Owen, the son of Donnell, son of Donnell, son of Donnell- 
 na-Sgreadaighe;) O'Mahony the Western, namely, Conor, the son 
 of Conor Fin Oge, son of Conor Fin, son of Conor O'Mahony ; and 
 O'Driscoll More, (Fineen, the son of Conor, son of Fineen, son of 
 Conor.) 
 
 None of the Minister lords who are here stated to 
 have repaired to this parliament took their seats, as 
 members, with the exception of Mac Carthy More, 
 Earl of Clancare. The county Cork was represented 
 by Sir John Norris, (lord president of Minister), Wm. 
 Cogan, or De Cogan, and John Fitz-Edmond Fitz- 
 gerald. 
 
 An act was passed that " all conveyances made, or 
 pretended to be made, by any person attainted of 
 treason, within thirteen years before the act, shall be 
 on record in the exchequer within a year, or be void." 
 
 This enactment, the object of which was to allow of 
 the confiscation of the late Earl of Desmond's vast 
 estates, was opposed by John Fitz-Edmond Fitzgerald, 
 one of the three members for the county of Cork. His 
 opposition might have proved successful, and, as Cox 
 says, have " baffled the expectations of the undertakers, 
 if Sir Henry Wallop had not gotten a document which 
 proved that the earl had entered into a confederacy of 
 rebellion with the very persons to whom he conveyed 
 the estates, (of whom John Fitz-Edmond was one), 
 two months before the conveyance ; but that upon the
 
 272 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 producing of the document, and the discovering of the 
 fraud and subtlety, the honest part of the house were 
 ashamed to abet so ill a cause, and that accordingly the 
 act was made to prevent the like contrivances." 
 Hibernia Anglican^ vol. i., p. 384 ; and Mori/sorts 
 History of Ireland, edition 0/1753, vol. i., pp. 8-9. 
 
 The " patrimonian lands " of the late earl extended, 
 according to the Four Masters, from Dun-caoin, in 
 Kerry, to the meeting of the Three Waters, at Water- 
 ford, and from the Great Island of Ard-Nemidh (on 
 which Queenstown stands) in Hy-Liathain, to Lime- 
 rick, consisting of over a million acres, of which 
 574,628 were forfeited to the crown by a special act 
 of attainder passed against him in 1583. 
 
 " This is the quantity of land which the Earl of Desmond had 
 before he opposed the sovereign, i.e. 3555^ seisreachs [plough- 
 lands]. According to the English, he had 106,606 seisreachs. 
 This was his royal rent, at half a rialo per acre, six thousand 
 pounds a-year. And this was the earl's rent at thirty pound per 
 geisreach, i.e. 106,570. There were 343 castles on the lands of 
 the Earl of Desmond." Duald Mac Firbis. 
 
 This hundred and six thousand five hundred and 
 seventy pounds per annum, would be worth more than 
 a million per annum of our money. 
 
 This vast property was apportioned out among 
 English undertakers.* 
 
 The following list was made out by Sir Edward 
 Phyton. It gives the names of the undertakers, the 
 number of acres, the rent, and the number of English 
 to be located upon the lands. 
 
 * English undertakers were so styled from a clause in the deed in which they 
 undertook the performance of certain duties. It is strange this term should now 
 mean a person who superintends funerals, inasmuch as the original undertaker* 
 left xhe bodies of the Irish, whose lands they possessed, uninterred, to the vulture* 
 and wild dogs.
 
 THE ENGLISH UNDERTAKERS. 273 
 
 "This was the relation and state of English in Munster given to 
 her majesty's Attorney- General (Sir John Popham,) and Sir Edward 
 Phyton the last summer, and sithence 
 
 TABLE OF UNDERTAKERS IN FEBR T - 1589. 
 In Kerry and Desmond at Eight Pence an Acre. 
 
 Acres. People. 
 
 Rent. 
 
 
 Sir Valentine Browne, . . 6000 . . 
 
 20 
 
 . . 100 
 
 
 Sir Edw d Denny, .... 6000 . . 
 
 
 
 . . 100 
 
 
 Sir William Herbert and ) 
 
 
 
 
 Sir Charles Herbert, j ' L 
 
 
 
 . . 300 
 
 
 Coneloffh \_Connilloe] at Four Pence an Acre. 
 
 Mr. Trencher, 12000 . . 
 
 37 
 
 . . 150 
 
 
 Sir Will Courtney, . . .12000 . . 
 
 
 
 . . 150 
 
 
 Mr. Oughtread, 12000 . . 
 
 22 
 
 . . 150 
 
 
 Mr. Billingsby, 12000 . . 
 
 137 
 
 . . 150 
 
 
 Sir Edw d Barkley, .... 12000 . . 
 
 
 . . 150 
 
 
 Cork at One Penny an Acre. 
 
 *HughCufle, 12000 . . 
 
 74 
 
 66 13 
 
 4 
 
 Arthur Hyde, . . , . . 6000 . . 
 
 24 
 
 . . 23 6 
 
 8 
 
 Phaane Beacher, .... 12000 . . 
 
 12 
 
 . . 66 13 
 
 4 
 
 HughWorthe, .... 12000 . . 
 
 
 . . 66 13 
 
 4 
 
 Sir Warham S 1 Leger and \ . onnn 
 
 
 Q O f* 
 
 
 Sir Rich d Grynfield, j ^ U 
 
 " 
 
 . . Oil O 
 
 
 Arthur Robyns, .... 4000 . . 
 
 u 
 
 . . 22 4 
 
 5 
 
 George Robynson, ... 4000 .. 
 
 12 
 
 . . 22 4 
 
 5 
 
 Mr. Read, 3000 . . 
 
 
 
 16 14 
 
 
 
 Limerick at 2 d - ob. (2 
 
 .) 
 
 
 
 Tipper ary and Waterford at l d - 
 
 q r - ( 
 
 l d i.) 
 
 
 Sir Edward Phyton, and Rich d ) nnA 
 Bould, and Tho- Preston, j " 
 
 60 
 
 . . 80 
 
 
 Rich d Phyton and ) 
 Alex r - Phytou, j ' ' 200 i .. 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 TheEarlofUremont(Ormond,)) .. 
 
 
 16 13 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 Thomas Fleetwood, . . . 3000 . . 
 
 22 
 
 16 13 
 
 4 
 
 * Hugh Cuffe, of Cuffe's Wood. This family was elevated to the peerage in 
 1733, under the title of Baron Desart; and was raised to the dignity of Earl of 
 Desart in 1793. 
 
 19
 
 274 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Acres. People. Rent 
 
 Marmaduke Redman, but now \ 
 
 dispossessed by Patrick / 
 
 Condon. His petition is 3( > 22 . . 1613 4 
 
 with Mr Secretary, 
 Sir Walter Raleigh and \ . 
 
 his associates, 
 My Lord Chancellor, . . . 6000 . . 200 . . 33 6 8 
 
 " Mr Attorney (Popham), Mr Edward Rogers (Popham's son-in- 
 law), and Mr Warre have had above sixty Englishmen there these 
 two years, and now for want of land are driven to call them home 
 again; besides there were divers women and servants. Also Sir 
 Warham St. Leger, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Edw d - Denny, Sir 
 William Herbert, Sir Thomas Norreys, Sir George Bourchier, Sir 
 Edw d - Barclay, Denzill Hollis, Arthur Robyns, and Mr Read have 
 no English people numbered by us, because we have not been in- 
 formed of them. 
 
 " Also, that the rent of Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Edw d - Denny, 
 Denzill Hollis, and Rich d - and Alex r - Phyton are not rated, because 
 we know them not. 
 
 " Note also, the chargeable lands are not valued, nor many 
 other parcels lying dispersed. 
 
 " E. PHYTON. 
 " J. POPHAM. 
 "People, 661. 
 
 "1674 14 10." 
 
 These grants were ready for signature when James 
 Fitz-Thomas, the nephew of Garrett, the late earl, and 
 the son of Garrett's elder brother, [Thomas,] presented 
 himself before the queen, as the true and legiti- 
 mate heir of the property. James Fitz-Thomas, better 
 known as the Sugan Earl, is described by Cox as "the 
 handsomest man of his time." His father, Thomas, 
 was the eldest son of James, the fifteenth earl, by 
 Joan, the daughter of Lord Roche, whom he divorced 
 on the plea of consanguinity, marrying a daughter of
 
 INQUISITION AT SHANDON CASTLE. 275 
 
 0' Carroll. Elizabeth perfectly understood this, but 
 she remembered that Catherine of Arrogan, the first 
 wife of Henry VIII., was alive when her father 
 married Anne Boleyn, so Fitz-Thomas returned as he 
 went, a tiugan Earl, or man of straw. He lived long 
 enough to prove that straw is highly inflammable. 
 His father, Thomas, did not concern himself in his 
 brother's or his son's rebellion, but lived peaceably in 
 his castle of Connough. * 
 
 An inquisition was held in Shandon castle, in the 
 city of Cork, the 9th of September, 1588, on the con- 
 duct of all those who were in any way concerned in, 
 or connected with the Earl of Desmond and his risings, 
 or rebellions. A large number were found guilty and 
 attainted by act of parliament. The inquisitors also, 
 furnished a list of all persons suspected of being ill- 
 disposed to the government. These lists contain as 
 many Anglo-Norman as Celtic names. We do not 
 find among them the name of any of the four great 
 branches of the Mac Carthys, namely, the Carthy More, 
 the Mac Carthy Keagh, Donogh Mac Carthy of Duhal- 
 low, or the Lord of Muskerry, although their properties 
 were very extensive. 
 
 We may judge of the power of those Irish chieftains 
 from the following list of horse and foot they were able 
 to bring into the field. The list is given by Sir George 
 Carew : 
 
 * Connough. Here he died, anno 1593, and was interred among his ancestors, 
 in the Franciscan abbey at Youghal. It appears by a paper in the Bodleian 
 Library, that his father, the fifteenth earl, made him a grant of the barony of 
 Kinnatalloon, and the manor of Castlemore, near Cork. lie left three sons, James, 
 John, and Gerald, and one daughter, who married Donald Mac Carthy Keagh.
 
 276 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 LIST OF THE IRISH FOBCZS IN DESMOND. 
 
 Horse. Galloglass. Kerne, 
 
 Mac Carthy More, Prince of that portion, . 40 .160 . 2000 
 
 Mac Carthy Reagh, Lord of Carbry, ... 60 . 80 . 2000 
 
 Donogh Mac Carthy of Dowallie, ... 24 . 80 . 200 
 
 Teig Mac Cormac of Muskry, . . . . 40 . 80 . 200 
 
 O'Keefe, 12 . . 100 
 
 M c Awliffe, 80 . . 60 
 
 O'Donovan, 6 . . 60 
 
 O'Driscols of Collimore and Baltimore, . . 6 . . 200 
 
 O'Mahon of Ivaghe, 26 . . 120 
 
 0' Sullivan Beare and Bantry, 10 . . 200 
 
 0' Donogh More of Lough Lene, .... 12 . . 200 
 
 O'Mahoni of Brin, 46 , . 100 
 
 O'Dwyre of Kil-na managhe, 12 . . 100 
 
 MTeig M e Philip of Kilnaloghengarty, . . 6 . 40 
 
 The last two were not followers of Mac Carthy. 
 
 It appears from a letter bearing date July 25th, 1583, 
 and a bill of expenses* furnished by Mac Carthy Eeagh 
 to the queen, that his followers had been employed by 
 her majesty during the Desmond rebellion : 
 
 1583. July 25th. SIK OWEN MAC CARTHY REAGH to HEB 
 MAJESTY. 
 
 " My most humble and bounden duetie to yo r Excellent Majestie 
 premissed. I thought it good to signifie unto yo r Highness whate 
 I and my coiitrey have employed for the better furtherance of yo r 
 Majesties service during the rebellion in Mounster, the particulers 
 wherof appeareth in a schedule herein inclosed; and as Capteine 
 Barkley may certifie the same unto yo r Ma tie , who behaued himselfe 
 verie well in the said contrey, not doubting but yo r Highnes (accor- 
 ding your accustomed bountie) will haue consideracion of the same, 
 moste humby beseching youre royall Majestie to grant unto me 
 suche resonable requests as mine agents will pticulerly declare to 
 yo r Highnes on my behalf; and thus (with all due reverence) I 
 
 * Bill of expenses. A little bill of this kind was, as we have seen, furnished to 
 his " very good king Harry," by the Lord O'Reilly ; but his kerne were employed 
 in England.
 
 MAC CARTHY EEAGH's BILL. 277 
 
 moste humbly take my leave. At your Ma ties citie of Cork the 25th 
 of July, 1583. 
 
 "Yo r Highnes' Faithful Subject, 
 
 CAETY." 
 
 A brt'efe selection of suche payments as Sir Owen McCarthy Knight 
 and his countrey of Caribrie in the Countie of Cork haue paid 
 for the furtherance of Her Ma ties Service sence the first of the 
 Rebelion of James Fitz Mores. 
 
 In primes. In the tyme of the Government of Sir John Perott 
 Lord president of Mounster, for the better mainteynance of her Ma Uef 
 Garisons being then here, paid in byfs, and cesse taken upp of the 
 said countrey, the som of a thousand Pounds st g . 
 
 Item, after to the Earle of Ormonde, being then L. Gen 1 of 
 Mounster, in money and byfs taken upp of the said contrey, the som 
 of 700 stg- 
 
 Item, to Sir William Drury L. president of Mounster for cesse of 
 16 horsmen, being towe yeares in the said contrey, viz. to every 
 horsman 5 s st. per diem, amountith to the som of 1147 sts- 
 
 Item, more to the said & r William in money towards Hir Ma tiet 
 charges, and to be released of the cesse of the said Horsemen 
 1000 sts 
 
 Item, the said Sir Owen M c Cartie paid to Patrick Shearlock of 
 Waterford for the nomber of thrie score kerne cessed upon his said 
 contrey 50. 
 
 Item, beseds the pmisses the said Sir Owen (of his own goode 
 will) for the better furtherance of Hir Ma ties Service, have kept in 
 his contrey aforesaid sence the begynning of the rebellion of the 
 Earle of Desmond 100 Englishe soldiers footmen, and paid there 
 Capteyns yearly 1200 viz f - 
 
 Item to Cap teyn William Aplsey, . . . .1200 
 
 Item to Capteyn Fenton, ....... 1200 
 
 Item to Capteyn Barkley, ....... 1200 
 
 The totall Som amounteth to, ..... 7497 
 
 It was the original policy of England to cut down 
 and root up the great Irish chieftains by Norman and
 
 278 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Saxon swords. This policy was persevered in to the 
 reign of Henry VIII., till the Norman lords attained 
 an ascendancy which rendered them more difficult to 
 govern than the Irish chieftains whom they were em- 
 ployed to destroy. The policy was then reversed. 
 The forces of the Mac Carthys were in government pay 
 for the suppression of the Geraldines, but the Geral- 
 dines being subdued, the question again arose, how are 
 these great Irish lords to be disposed of; for the Eng- 
 lish sovereigns never contemplated more than the 
 Cyclopean gratitude of eating them last. 
 
 The late outlawed Earl of Desmond had one son, 
 whom the queen had caged up in the Tower, with her 
 lions, tigers, and other dangerous animals. Mac 
 Carthy More, Earl of Clancare, also had one son, but 
 what became of him is a perfect mystery. That the 
 English ministry had their meshes spread around his 
 path is evident from the following correspondence : 
 
 1584.* July 9th. From TKEASTTBEE WALLOP to Sir F. WAL- 
 
 SINGHAM. 
 
 " My Lo. Deputie hath sent the Earls of Desmond and Clancarty 
 their sonnes to the Court by two of my men, whom I beseeche you 
 to discharge of them as sone as they come to the Court w'h them." 
 
 1584. Nov. 28M. WATEBHOUSE to WALSINGHAM. 
 
 "The other two letters are from the Earl of Clanrickarde; the 
 one, as I learn (both from himselfe and Sir Richard,) is to exhort 
 his son, the Baron of Dunkellin, to beware of such advice as hath 
 been given to the young Earon of Valentia for his undutiful depar- 
 ture into France." 
 
 * 1584. The Earl of Desmond delivered up his son to Sir William Drnry at 
 Kilmallock in 1579. He must have remained five years in Dublin till after his 
 father's death before he was sent to England.
 
 CLANCAEE'S SON AND DAUGHTER. 279 
 
 1586. January 19th. 
 
 " I have no other newes besydes those I sent you lately, save 
 that one Barry, who was the enticer and conveyor away of the Lord 
 of Valentia from here, is of late taken by the Earl of Glencarre. who 
 had intelligence of his coming over into the country, disguised like 
 a beggar, to see how he could procure some relief for the young 
 Lord. I have given order to have him safely sent hither unto me : 
 when I have him I will learn of him what I may. 
 
 "From the Castle of Dublin." 
 
 1586. Feb. 12. NICHOLAS SKIDDT to WALSINGHA.M. 
 
 "Rt. hon. : My humble and most bonden duty premised. Find- 
 ing this bearer, my cousin, James Meagher, repairing towards the 
 Court, I thought good to write your Honor these few lines, declair- 
 ing*that William Barry the man that brought the Earl of Clancarre's 
 son into France, is apprehended in Desmond, and now brought to 
 Cork. I offered to bring him to your Honor, wherein I could not 
 prevail, by reason that my Lo. Deputie did write for him; and it 
 is meant that the said Barry shall be sent to Dublin." 
 
 It appears from these letters that Barry, having 
 conveyed the boy from London to France, returned to 
 Ireland, disguised as a beggar, " to procure some 
 relief for the young lord." What became of the lad 
 after this, we know not ; perhaps be died. 
 
 Mac Carthy More also had a daughter, Ellen. 
 She was heiress to a princely inheritance. Irrespective 
 of his own personal estates, the Mac Carthy More 
 derived, as lord paramount, the following items of 
 income from subordinate lords and chieftains in the 
 counties of Cork and Kerry. The following is ex- 
 tracted* from papers sent to Burleigh: 
 
 * Extracted. We are indebted for this and other valuable information to th 
 labors of Daniel Mac Carthy (Glas) Esq., who is engaged on a life of Floreme 
 Mac Carthy. See journal of the Kilkenny Archieological Society, vol. ii., new
 
 280 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Extracted from the first of three Tracts sent to BUBLEIGH. 
 
 "The Earle of Glyncarr, before Her Ma'tie created him Earle, 
 was by Inheritance Me Cartie Moore; by w c h amonge the Irishe 
 he was accounted the cheefest in this Province, as descended from 
 them that before they were subdued to the Crowne of England, 
 weare the Kinges of the greater parte thereof; and at the tyme of 
 his creation and surrender of his former titles, he had, and ever synce 
 claymeth under his jurisdiction and dominon fourteene sever all coun- 
 tries, beside som of lesse quantitie; most of them possessed by such 
 as have descended out of his house, from every of wh c h he deman- 
 deth sondrie duties and services, whereof many are abolyshed by 
 statute. 
 
 "The First is the countrey of Me Donochoe (called Duallo,) w'h 
 hath w'hin it thre other countreis. O'Chalachan's countrey, 
 M c A.unliefs countrey, and O'Keif's countrey. He claymeth in these 
 countreis the gevinge of the Rodd to the chieffe Lords at their first 
 entrie, who by receiving a whit wande at his handes, for w c h they 
 are to paie him a certen dutie, are thereby declared from thence- 
 forthe to be Lords of those countreis. He claymeth allso that they 
 are to rise out with him when he makes warre; to maintaine for him 
 seaven and twentie Galleglasses, besides to finde him for a certen 
 tyme, when he cometh to their countreis. 
 
 "The Seconde The countrey of Muskerie, a very large countrey, 
 wherein five other countreis are conteyned; he claymeth of them 
 risinge out, the keapinge of thirtie galleglass, and findinge of him 
 for a certen tyme. The Lordes of this countrey, by taking L"* 
 Patents of the Kings of England, have exempted themsealves from 
 him, as they aflynne. 
 
 "The Third countrey is O'Sullivan Moore's. It conteyneth two 
 hundred ploughlandes. He claymeth there the geavinge of the 
 Rodd, the findinge of Fiftie Gallyglasses, Risinge out, and in yearely 
 spendinge the value of 20. 
 
 "The Fourthe is O'Sullivan Beare's countrey, which conteyneth 
 allso 160 ploughlands; he claymethe there Risinge out, the findinge 
 of 50 Galleyglas, the geavinge of the Rodd, and to the value of 40 
 a yeare in spendings and refeccons. 
 
 "The Fyft is O'Donochoe Moore's countrey. It conteyneth 45 
 ploughlands, and it is nowe all in the Earle's handes, by Her Ma*
 
 EARL OF CLANCARE'S RENT-ROLL. 281 
 
 "The Sixt is the Lord of Cosmaignes countrey. It conteyneth 
 84 ploughlands. It is now all in the Earle's hands by Her Ma** 
 gyft, or y e most part thereof. 
 
 "The Seaventhe is the Lord of Kerelawny's countrey, otherwise 
 called Slight Cormak. It contayneth 35 ploughlands, whereof some 
 are in the lie of Valentia. He claymeth there the geaving of the 
 Rodd, risinge out, the findinge of 40 Galleyglass, and to the value 
 of 40 a yeare in spendinge. 
 
 "The Eight is the countrey of [Mac] Gelecudde. It contayneth 
 46 ploughlands. He claymeth there risinge out, the gevinge of the 
 Rodde, the findinge of 30 Galleyglas, and to the value of 20 a 
 yeare in spendinge. 
 
 " The Ninthe is Mac Fynin's countrey [in Glenaraught, Co. 
 Kerry]. It conteyneth 28 ploughlands. He claymeth the givinge 
 of the Rodd, the finding of 15 Galleyglas, risinge out, and to the 
 value of 24 yearly in spendinge. 
 
 " The Tenthe is the countrey of Clondonoroe. It contayneth 24 
 ploughlands. He claymeth theare risinge out, and it is in the 
 Erie's hands by Her M ts Gyfte. 
 
 " The Eleaventh is the countrey of O'Donocho-Glan.* He hath 
 there no other dutie but onlly six and fortie shillings fourpeuce of 
 yearelie rent. The countrey contayneth 20 ploughlands. 
 
 " The Twelueth is the countrey of Clan-Dermonde. It con- 
 teyneth 28 ploughlands. He claymeth risinge out, the keepinge 
 of 16 Galleyglas, and in yearlie spendinge to the value of 40. 
 
 " The Thirteenth is Clanlawra's [in O'Sullivan Beare's countrey]. 
 This countrie conteyneth 32 ploughlands. It is all in the Earle's 
 hands by Her Ma ts gift. 
 
 " The Fourteenthe in the countrey of Loughlegh, in Kerry, or 
 of Teignitowin. It conteyneth 32 ploughlands. The Earle claym- 
 eth it to be excheated unto him for want of Heires right and legi- 
 timate. 
 
 " Moreover, the Earle hath in Chief Rents yssuing out of Bar- 
 rett's countrey, by the cyttie of Corke, 11 a yeare; out of the 
 Abbey of Killaha, 4 a year or thereabouts ; out of Ballenskellig 
 yearly as much ; out of certen churchland in Beare the like some ; 
 besides he hath in demayne land, in the hundreds of Maygonie and 
 Euraught, about his castle of the Pallace [in Kerry], his castle of 
 * O'Dcmoghue of Glenflcsk, in Kerry.
 
 282 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Ballicarbery, castle Lough, and the Abbey of Vriett [Muckrus] 
 three score ploughJands or thereabouts; in : Sullivan Beare's 
 countrey, Muskery, and Duallo, or in Donochoe's countrey, certen 
 ploughlands ; also in each of them demayne lands. 
 
 "All his Lands and Territories lieth in the counties of Desmond 
 and Cork, and some parte in the county of Kerne. The most parte 
 of his land is waste and uninhabited, w c h hath growne partly by 
 the calamities of the last warres, partly by the exactions that he 
 hath used uppon his tenants. 
 
 "It is of great consequence and importance unto our inhabitation 
 there, that the Earle's estate be not enlarged, to the ende that after 
 his decease, Englishe Gentlemen may be there planted, and all his 
 dependences brought to hould onely of Her Ma' tie; unless it so 
 weare that by Her Highnes fav 1 and good likinge, hts daughter 
 weare maried to som worthy English Gentleman, and his lands 
 assured after his deceasse to the heires male of their two bodies. 
 In w c h case allso I wishe the keapinge of Galleyglas, risinge out, 
 and ceassinge of souldiers to be wholly extinguished, the spendings 
 and refeccons to be reduced to som money rent ; the gevinge of the 
 Rodd to be abolished,* and all those meane Lords to hould their landg 
 of Her Highness." 
 
 The queen, who had a strong penchant for match- 
 making, adopted the hint here thrown out, of marrying 
 the earl's daughter to " some worthy English gentle- 
 man." She resolved to wed the fair young girl to the 
 younger son of Sir Valentine Brown ; to which the 
 young heiress, and her mother, the countess, were 
 greatly opposed. The father, who appears to have 
 played a cautious game throughout, assented, we are 
 told, " for money," 
 
 We gather from Sir Warham St, Leger that the 
 great objection made by the countess and the Kerry 
 
 * The gevinge of the rodd to be abolished. The Irish chieftains received a 
 white rod at their installation. To receive this was an emblem of iheir power 
 over their clan, and of their submission to the lord paramount, by whom it wus 
 bestowed.
 
 FLORENCE CARRIES OFF LADY ELLEN. 
 
 cousins to the match, was a want of " nobilitie of 
 bloud " in young Nicholas Brown. * His father, Sir 
 Valentine Brown, was at this time engaged with Sir 
 Henry Wallop, in surveying the forfeited estates. 
 
 " The countess and the young lady came to me, and 
 divers of the gentlemen of the country, to acquaint me 
 of their disappointment ; and some other of the best 
 in those parts discovered gneffes by their letters. They 
 desired that she mought be matched to some one of a 
 noble howse." St. Leger himself says, " There is 
 nothinge the Irishe more esteme than the nobilitie of 
 bloud, preferringe it farre before eyther vertue or 
 wealth ; so abhorre they nothinge more than disparage- 
 ment, more odious unto them than death, which well 
 appeared in the late communicacion of mariadge be- 
 tween the Earle of Clyncarr's daughter and Sir Valen- 
 tine Brown's younger sonne." 
 
 Sir Warham, who seems to have sympathy with 
 this objection, on the score of "nobilitie of bloud," 
 wrote to his old friend, Sir Thomas Norris through 
 whose veins flowed the best blood in England^ " Yf 
 he like of such a matche." He declined, being other- 
 wise disposed to bestow himself, so the young lady, or 
 rather her friends, must be satisfied to take young 
 Brown. Matters were in this state when Florence 
 ^vlac Carthy stepped in, and, like young Lochinvar, 
 carried off the prize, and married her in an "old 
 
 * Youny Master Nicholas, afterwards Sir Nicholas Brown, of Rosse, in Kerry, 
 married a daughter of O' Sullivan Brare, to whom Florence had been affianced. 
 Sir Valentine Brown, a descendant of Sir Nicholas, was created Baron of Castlc- 
 rosse, and Viscount Kenmare, the 29th of May, 1689. 
 
 t The best blood of England. Sir Bernard Burke says that the Jephsons, 
 through their descent from the Norreys, partake of the " most illustrious hlood iu 
 England of Plantaganet, De Clare, Marshall, Stiongbow," &c.
 
 284 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 broken church " in Kerry. " I verily e thinke yf it 
 were duly examyned, he was marryed with a mass." 
 He suspects the Earl of Clancare, as well as the 
 countess, as privy to it. "I do thinke in my con- 
 scyence yt is a secrete practyce betwene the earl and 
 his wyfe." The dangers to be apprehended from this 
 union between two great Irish families are summed 
 up thus : 
 
 "The perills that may accrue by the match are these, viz: 
 1st, The saied Florence, alias Fynian, is dyscended of the dough ter 
 of Morrys of Desmonde, uncle of the late wicked Earle of Des- 
 monde, cousyn germain to James Fytz-Morrys, sonne now in Spaine, 
 and likewise to Morrys of Desmonde, Traytor, also in Spaine. 
 
 " 2nd. He is alsoe cosyn germain to him that is nowe Lo : of 
 Muskerye, whoe is sonne to the said Fynian's mother's sister. 
 
 " 3rd. He is alsoe cousyn germain to the L. Rotche that now is, 
 whoe haith marryed the syster of the saied Fynian's mother : by 
 which kyndred he is stronglie allyed. 
 
 "4th. He is also lyke, after the decease of Sir Owen Makertie, who 
 is a man in yeares, and growne latelie sicklie, and thereby not like- 
 lie to lyve manye yeares, to have by Tanyshipp the goverment of 
 the countrie of Carburye; unless he be prevented thereof by Her 
 Ma' tie's assystinge Donnell Mack Kertie, who in right ought by 
 Tanyshipp to have the goverment of Carburie before him, in as 
 much as he cometh of the elder brother of the Macke Kerties of 
 Carburye, and besides that his tytle of Tanyshipp he ought to have 
 the countrie before Finian." 
 
 Finian, Fineen, or Florence, who stood a head and 
 shoulders above his brethren, and whose mental en- 
 dowments and education qualified him for a far higher 
 station than that of chieftain to an Irish sept, was the 
 eldest son of Sir Donough Mac Carthy, Lord of Car- 
 bery, whose principal residence was Kilbrittan castle, 
 on the west coast of the county Cork. Sir Donough
 
 SIR THOMAS yOEEIs's LETTER. 285 
 
 was succeeded, according to the laws of tanistry, not 
 by his son, but by his brother, Sir Owen Mac Carthy; 
 and Sir Owen Mac Carthy, whom St. Leger describes 
 as a man of years, was succeeded, not by his son, but 
 by Donnell na-Pipy, * the son of his eldest brother, 
 who had died ; and Donnell na-Pipy, not by his son, 
 but by Florence, the son of the second eldest brother. 
 But there were more serious objections to Florence 
 than these. Sir Thomas Xorris, writing to Walsing- 
 ham under date July 1st, 1558, says: "By his own 
 private disposition he hath always shewed himself 
 dearly well affected and inclined to the Spaniards." 
 Again, " He hath by all means laboured to be 
 interested in the Old Head of Kimale." This was the 
 year of the Spanish Armada. For all these reasons, it 
 was deemed prudent to arrest him. 
 
 " Him now I have according to Her High, pleasure committed, 
 as also according to y r later direccion in yo r Ip's l res of the 4th of 
 the last moneth, have caused the countesse, Mac Finin, Teig Mer- 
 rigagh, and such others as I could learne to have bene privy to the 
 practise to be apprehended, as I could come by them ; and doe not 
 doubt but very shortly to come by the rest likewise, of the w c h I 
 understand that 0' Sullivan More was the greatest forwarder and 
 nearest of councell, though indeed all the chief of that countrey 
 were wrought by Florence to consent thereunto, who (as I am left 
 to understand) before the marriage, gott all their hands to firme 
 that agreement, by a generall corrfirmacion of them; and soone after 
 accomplished the said marriage in an old broken church thereby, 
 not in such solemnity and good sort as behoved, and as order of 
 Law and Her Mat 8 injunction doe require." 
 
 These allusions of Sir Thomas Norris to Spain and 
 
 * Donnell na-Pipy was so called, because in his time some pipes of wine were 
 cast on shore at Burrin, and consequently were his right, being a wreck, and ac- 
 cordingly he had them, which, in those superstitious times, was reckoned very 
 fortunate, the wreck being esteemed, as the Coruishman's phrase is God's goods. 
 Smith's History oj (Jork, vol. i.,p. 27.
 
 28 G HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 the Old Head of Kinsale, (the most likely port for a 
 foreign landing,) were fearfully damaging to poor 
 Florence. Norris, no doubt, felt greatly nettled at 
 the way in which the astute young chieftain, whom 
 Sir George styles a Michavellian ambo-dexter, had 
 taken him in, or thrown him off the scent : 
 
 " Upon the first arrivall of the sayd Florence here, coming unto 
 me he gave no signe of any such purpose, as sithens fell out, but to 
 give color (as semes) to his entent, and to draw me y' furtner from 
 suspicion thereof, through his seeming conceived unkyndness 
 against y e Earle, he then discovered unto me some ill dealing of the 
 eayd Earle towards him, namely, how, that being bownd to him in 
 great bands for assurance of certein lands, and for performance of 
 some other condicions, amongst w c h one was, that he should give him 
 his daughter in mariage, he neverthelesse had broken with him, and 
 therefore offered me (Yf I should so lyke) the benefit! of the for- 
 feitures of the sayd lands: w c h speaches (as sithens as I conceived) 
 sceme to have preceded of some further matter in y e secret of his 
 harte, those his words being so contrary to that w e h he eftesoones 
 did attempt." 
 
 For the queen to seize and imprison an Irish chief- 
 tain for marrying his own cousin, may sound rather 
 strange to our ears, but it was not unusual in those 
 days. Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned in the 
 Tower for marrying Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir 
 Nicholas Throckmorton. Florence remained in cus- 
 tody for eleven years, till the rebellion of the Earl of 
 Tyrone spread to the south, when, for state reasons, it 
 was deemed expedient to send him to Munster, and 
 pit him against James Fitz-Thomas, the Sugan Earl of 
 Desmond, and Donnell Mac Carthy, the Earl of Clan- 
 care's "base-born" son. To understand this portion 
 of the history of Cork, we must turn to the north, 
 where the storm arose.
 
 KIDNAPPING OF HUGH EOE ? DONNELL. 2S7 
 
 The illegal kidnapping and unjust imprisonment of 
 Hugh Roe O'Donnell, by Sir John Perrott, * led to 
 much evil. This noble young Irish chieftain never 
 forgot nor forgave what he endured on that occasion. 
 It was the recollection of all he suffered while a mere 
 youth that hastened his march, at the head of an army, 
 to aid the Spaniards at Kinsale. Treachery in rulers 
 is short-sighted policy. The English government 
 feared, if the lad arrived at maturity, he would join 
 with his brother-in-law, O'Neill, whose loyalty was 
 strongly suspected ; it was therefore resolved to remove 
 him from the north. A ship arrives at Lough Swilly, 
 some of the crew come ashore in a small boat, as 
 merchantmen ; they have wine to sell. The inhabi- 
 tants of the neighbourhood buy, and drink to intoxica- 
 tion. The young chieftain comes up and is invited, 
 with a select party, aboard. The invitation is ac- 
 cepted. In the midst of their conviviality, the hatches 
 are closed, and the vessel sails out of the harbour. 
 
 The Dublin council are " rejoiced at the arrival of 
 Hugh,'' and order him to be confined in a " strong 
 stone castle," the Bermiugham Tower. After three 
 years' imprisonment, he attempts to escape, f but is 
 retaken and loaded with irons, to the l( grief, indigna- 
 tion, and despair " of his people. He tries again, and 
 succeeds. It is night. Hugh, with Henry, and Art, 
 
 * Sir John Perrott was succeeded by Sir William Fitz-William, who was sworn 
 in the 30ih of June, 1588. " He had formerly been a very good governer of 
 Ireland, but being answered at Whitehall, vheii he sought some reward for his 
 services, that the government of Ireland was a preferment, and not a service, he 
 ever after endeavoured to make his profit of that office." Cox's Sibernia Angli- 
 eana, vol. i.,p. 397. 
 
 f Attempts to escape. It is the opinion of Fynes Morvson, Cox, and Leland, 
 that the Lord Deputy Fitzwilliam was privy to this attempt. " It was evidently, 
 concerted between Fitzwilliam and Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, who buried the secret 
 ' altititdine profunda animi' "
 
 288 HISTORY OF COEK, 
 
 the sons of O'Neill, catch their keeper napping. 
 Theymanage to knock off their irons, to scale the walls, 
 and cross the ditch, and away to the wilds of Wicklow. 
 It is a winter's night ; the snow falls heavy on their 
 thin garments, as they cross the Red Mountain. Hugh, 
 though the youngest, bears up manfully, but Art is 
 exhausted, and can proceed no further. They cannot 
 desert him, so they all lie down beneath the shelter 
 of a rock, and send a faithful messenger to the house 
 of Fiagh 0' Byrne, of Glenmalur, * for aid. The aid is 
 willingly afforded, but it comes too late for Art. His 
 body lies in its white shroud of snow. They buried 
 him where he died, and bore Hugh, more dead than 
 alive, to the house, with his feet fearfully frost-bitten. 
 When able to ride, he pushed on through Meath, to 
 the banks of the Boyne, where he was met by his 
 brother-in-law, Hugh O'Neill, who had a ferry-boat 
 in waiting to convey him to the other side of the 
 river ; and from thence, through a dense grove, " to 
 a fine mansion-house belonging to a distinguished 
 English youth, f wno was a particular friend of 
 O'Neill." 
 
 It was by such base and treacherous conduct that 
 the Irish or English governments of those days put an 
 edge on the weapons of Irish chieftains. Sir John 
 Norris, and his brother, Sir Thomas, the President of 
 Munster, are now about to measure swords with these 
 
 * Fiagh O Byrne of GZenmalur. " Fiagh, son of Hugh, son of John, [O'Byrne] 
 from Glenmalure, was slain in the first month of this year, having been treacher- 
 ously betrayed by his relative, at the bidding of the Chief Justiciary of Ireland, 
 Sir William Russell. Four Masters, A.D., 1597. 
 
 f Distinguished English youth. The Four Masters do not give the name- 
 The biographer of Hugh Roe O'Neill says, the mansion was at, or near, the 
 Abbey of Mellifont, where Dervorgill, the Helen of Irish history, died.
 
 SIR JOHX NORRIS AXD HUGH O'NEILL. 289 
 
 two outlawed and desperate men. Let us see how 
 they fare. 
 
 Sir John Norris, and a new Lord Justice, Sir William 
 Russell, arrived in Ireland in 1595. O'Neill, who had 
 heard of Sir John Morris' fame as a general, sent to 
 O'Donnell to assemble his forces at an appointed 
 rendezvous. " When the Lord Justice* heard they were 
 loth in readiness to meet him, he remained in Dublin, for 
 that time." 
 
 " A.D. 1595. For some time after this the English 
 did not dare to bring any army into Ulster, except one 
 hosting which was made by Sir John Norris and his 
 brother, Sir Thomas Norris, the President of the two 
 provinces of Munster, with the forces of Munster and 
 Meath, to proceed into Ulster. They marched to 
 Newry, and passed from thence towards Armagh. 
 When they had proceeded near half way, they were 
 met by the Irish, who proceeded to annoy, shoot, 
 pierce, and spear them, so that they did not suffer 
 them either to sleep or rest quietly for the space of 
 twenty-four hours. They were not permitted to ad- 
 vance forward one foot further, and their chiefs were 
 glad to escape with their lives to Newry, leaving 
 behind them many men, horses, arms, and valuable 
 things. The general, Sir John Norris, and his brother, 
 Sir Thomas, were wounded on this occasion. It was 
 no ordinary gap of danger for them to go into the 
 province after this." 
 
 Soon after this, Sir Thomas Norris returned to Cork 
 to his duties of Lord President, where he hung Conor 
 
 * Lord Justice, Sir William "Russell, arrived in Dublin the 31st of January, 
 1594. He was the youngest son of Francis, Earl of Bedford. 
 
 20
 
 290 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 O'Brien, (in 1596) who was taken preying in Coill 
 Mhor, or the Great Wood, near Charleville. 
 
 The next year a new Lord Deputy was sent to 
 Ireland, in the person of Lord Borough. He is 
 described as a man "almost wholly ignorant of the 
 military art." He, notwithstanding, deprived Sir John 
 Norris whom Camden styles " Vir sane magnus, et 
 inter maximus nostraB gentis hoc sevo duces cele- 
 brandus," of the office of Commander-in-chief in 
 Ireland, which affront, he adds, together with the 
 disappointment of the chief government, which he 
 knew he merited, and earnestly expected, and the 
 many baffles Tyrone had put upon him, broke his 
 heart. Sir John's great success, previous to his 
 meeting O'Neill, had been such, that it was currently 
 reported he had sold himself to the devil, who appears 
 to have forsaken him in the^a;? of danger. O'Sullivan 
 Beare concludes that O'Neill had not only defeated 
 General Norris,* " sed ipsum etiam diabolum" The 
 Four Masters make the following entry of his 
 death: 
 
 " A.D. 1597. Sir John Norris, who had been gen- 
 eral of the queen's army in France f and Ireland, was 
 deprived of his office by the new Lord Justice who had 
 last arrived in Ireland, and went to Munster, where he 
 remained with his brother, Sir Thomas Norris, who had 
 been previously President (under him) of JVlunster for 
 the period of twelve years. John was seized with a 
 
 " General Norris pertissimum Anglorum imperatorum omni pugnandi appar- 
 atu superiorem sed ipsum etiam diabolum, qui illi expacto fuisse opitulatus creditur 
 viceret." Hist. Cathol. Iber. Gmpd., torn, iii., 1. 3, c. i. 
 
 f General of the queen's army in France. More correctly in Holland. It was 
 he who placed the crown of Portugal on the brow of John of Braganza, by whose 
 descendants it is still worn.
 
 THE EATTLE OF THE YELLOW FORD. 291 
 
 disease, and died suddenly* in the autumn of this 
 year, and Sir Thomas was the heir to his property. 
 Sir Thomas continued in the same office after the death 
 of his brother." 
 
 The Annals of Ireland record, under the same year, 
 1597, the deaths of the Earl of Kildare, the Lord 
 Justice, and his wife's brother. The Lord Justice fell 
 in with a troop of O'Neill's horse, on the banks of the 
 Abhainn-Mor, or Blackwater, where he was wounded. 
 He was carried in a litter to Newry, where he died. 
 The sword of state was therefore entrusted to the Lord 
 Chancellor, the Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, 
 antt Sir Eobert Gardiner, till a new Chief Justice or 
 Deputy was appointed. Thomas, Earl of Ormond was 
 appointed Generalissimo, who concluded an armistice 
 with O'Neill. When the armistice concluded, Marshal 
 Bagnell, whose sister had eloped with and married 
 O'Neill, met this redoubtable chieftain between Lough 
 Erne and Dundalk, and fell, mortally wounded, at the 
 famous battle of the Yellow Ford.f It was fought on 
 the 10th of August, 1598. The account of this battle, 
 in which the English were defeated, spread like wild- 
 fire through the South, and kindled a warlike flame in 
 the bosom of James Fitz-Thomas, the Sugan Earl of 
 Desmond, who considered himself the legitimate heir 
 to the title and vast estates of his outlawed uncle, 
 Garrett. He and his brother John opened the cam- 
 paign in Qmnello. Sir Thomas Norris, President of 
 Munster, was lying at Kilmallock. The Earl of 
 
 * Died suddenly. 0' Sullivan Beare tells a story of Sir John and the devil, 
 which Doctor 0' Donovan says would do credit to the author of Doctor Faustus. 
 f Yellow Ford. Beal an-atha-buidhe, '*., mouth of the Yellow Ford.
 
 292 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Ormond, hearing of the sudden rising, hastened, with 
 his troops, to join the president. The Irish leader, 
 nothing daunted, marched upon Kilmallock. " Upon 
 seeing them, the lords, (i.e , the earl and the president), 
 agreed to avoid meeting them, and turned off towards 
 Magh Ealla," * now Mallow. The Geraldines " per- 
 sued them to the gate of Magh Ealla " and dared them 
 to battle, saying, they never had a better opportunity. 
 Notwithstanding, " the two great men " determined, 
 that the one, Sir Thomas Norris, should repair to 
 Cork, and the other to the territory of the Butler. 
 
 We conclude that this piece of poltroonery was 
 arranged by Ormond, the Generalissimo of the queen's 
 forces in Ireland. He left Marshal Bagnell to fight 
 the battle of the Yellow Ford, while he went preying 
 and spoiling in Leix, and in Leix he left the post of 
 danger to his brother, James, who was slain by Brian 
 O'More. The earl was informed there were only a 
 few to guard the territory. He ordered his brother, 
 James, to enter the pass before him. It was Sunday 
 morning. James was loath to go ; but set out at the 
 earl's command. He fell mortally wounded. Brian 
 O'More died soon after of his wounds. Brian was 
 succeeded by Owny, the son of Eory 0' Moore, who 
 had his revenge on Ormond. The story is told in the 
 Pacata Hibernia. Sir George Carew, the new lord 
 president of Munster, is passing through Kilkenny, on 
 his way to Cork. Here he meets Ormond, who tells 
 him he has arranged a parley with Owny Mac Rory 
 O'Moore. The place of parley is Corronneduff, eight 
 
 * Magh Ealla, the " Plain of the Ealla." The country higher up the Black - 
 water is called Dhuhallow, or the Black Allo. The river above Kanturk, to its 
 source, is still called the Allo. We have the " Allo Bridge " at Freemount.
 
 CAPTURE OF THE EARL OF ORMOND. 293 
 
 miles from Kilkenny. The earl asks the president to 
 accompany him ; Carew consents. They meet O'Moore 
 on a heath in the midst of a bog, surrounded with 
 shrubs. Behind the shrubs lie a number of bonnoughts 
 and skipping kerne. Ormond asks to see " that 
 infamous Jesuit, Archer." We suspect that Ormond 
 went to the parley with the design of arresting Archer. 
 The churchman comes forward, and is called a "traitor," 
 and accused of making rebels, under the guise of reli- 
 gion. The Irish are indignant, and rally round their 
 priest. The earl's party are surrounded. ll We were 
 environed, and stood as if we had been in a fair." 
 Sic^George Carew and the Earl of Thomond, who was 
 of the party, turned their horses' heads for flight, 
 Ormond does the same, but is seized, and unhorsed. 
 " His lordship was in a moment cfrawn from his horse. 
 We had more hanging on than is creditably to be 
 believed ; but our horses were strong, and by that 
 means did break through them, tumbling down those 
 that were before and behind ; and thanks be to God, 
 we escaped the push of their pikes, which they freely 
 bestowed, and the flinging of their skeins, without any 
 hurt, saving that I, the Earl of Thomond, received 
 with a pike, a wound in the back." The Earl of Ormond 
 remained for sometime a prisoner in the hands of 
 O'Moore. * 
 
 This Owny Mac Rory O'Moore was employed by 
 O'Neill to fan the rebellion which had broken out 
 
 * A prisoner in the hands of O'Moore. It is thought he was converted to the 
 Catholic faith, (during his incarceration,) hy Archer, the Jesuit, Ormond lived 
 to the age of 82, and at the close of his life became blind. He was succeeded by 
 his nephew, Sir Walter Butler, the llth Earl, styled "Walter of the Rosaries," 
 who was also a Catholic. Walter was succeeded by his grandson, James, styled 
 " the Great Duke of Ormond."
 
 294 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 in the South. Fynes Moryson mentions him and 
 Captain Tyrrell, as deputies employed "to trouble the 
 province of Munster." 
 
 "After the defeat at the Blackwater, Tyrone sent 
 Ony Mao Eory O'More, and one Captain Tyrel, (of 
 English race, but a bold and unnatural enemy to his 
 country and the English,) to trouble the province of 
 Munster, against whom Sir Thomas Norris, Lord Pre- 
 sident, opposed himself; but as soon as he, upon 
 necessary occasions, had withdrawn his forces to Cork, 
 many of the Munster men now, first about October, 1598, 
 broke into rebellion, and joined themselves with Tyrone's 
 said forces, spoiled the country, * burnt the villages, 
 and pulled down the houses and castles of the English, 
 against whom (especially the female sex,) they com- 
 mitted all abominable outrages. 
 
 "And now they raised James Fitz-Thomas, to 
 be Earl of Desmond, (which title had, since the 
 wars of Desmond, been suppressed,) with condi- 
 tion that (forsooth,) he should be vassal to O'Neal. 
 The Munster rebellion broke out like a lighten- 
 ing, for in one month's space, almost all the Irish were 
 in rebellious arms the English were murdered, or 
 stript and banished. Thus having inflamed Munster 
 with the fire of rebellion, and leaving this sedition to 
 be cherished and increased by this new Earl of Desmond, 
 and other rebels of that province, the Ulster forces 
 returned back to Tyrone. The infection which Munster 
 men have drawn from the corrupted party in rebellion 
 
 * Spoiled the country. "At this time they offered and sold at their camp, a 
 stripper, or cow-in-calf for six-pence ; a brood- mare for three pence, and the best 
 hog for a penny ; and these bargains were offered and proclaimed in every eamp 
 in which they were. Four Master*, 1598.
 
 JAMES FITZ-THOMAS' REBELLION. 295 
 
 did more and more spread itself, so as the old practices, 
 long held by the arch-traitor Tyrone to induce them to 
 a revolt, now fully attained their wished effect, to the 
 working whereof, in the hearts of the seditious, there 
 wanted not many strong motives, as the hatred which 
 those Geraldines bear to those undertakers, (of whom 
 I formerly spoke in Desmond's war,) which possessed 
 their ancestors' lands.' 7
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE POET SPENSEB. 
 
 ONE of the undertakers so burnt out, was Edmund 
 Spenser, the poet. He came to Ireland, as we have 
 already stated, in 1580, as secretary to Lord Grey. 
 He received a grant of three thousand acres of the for- 
 feited lands of the Earl of Desmond, with the castle of 
 Kilcolman, near Doneraile, in the county Cork. Here 
 he wrote his "View of the State of Ireland," the 
 " Faerie Queene," and " Colin Clouts come Home 
 againe." Here he was visited by his friend Sir Walter 
 Raleigh. The poet represents himself as a shepherd 
 seated at the "foote of Mole," (the Ballyhoura 
 mountain,) when Raleigh comes up, with whom he 
 does not appear acquainted but this is a feint, for 
 Spenser and Ealeigh came to Ireland together 
 
 " One day, quoth he, I sat (as was my trade) 
 Under the foote of Mole, that mountain hore, 
 Keeping my sheepe amongst the cooly shade 
 Of the greene alders hy the Mullaes shore ; 
 There a strange shepheard chaunst to find me out ; 
 Whether allured with my pipes delight, 
 Whose pleasing sound yshrilled far about, 
 Or thither led by chaunce, I know not right : 
 Whom when I asked from what place he came, 
 And how he hight, himself he did ycleepe, 
 The Sheppard of the Ocean by name, 
 And said he came far from the main-sea deepe."
 
 SPENSER AND RALEIGH. 297 
 
 Raleigh, the shepherd of the ocean, sits down in the 
 shade beside the shepherd of the hills, and plains, and 
 running streams, and provokes him to <{ plaie a plea- 
 sant fit," and in the end is so charmed and excited, 
 that he takes the pipe to play himself: 
 
 " And when he heard the musicke which I made, 
 He found himselfe full greatly pleased at it : 
 Yet, femuling my pipe, he tooke in hand 
 My pipe, before that semuled of many ; 
 And plaid thereon ; (for well that skill he cond ;) 
 Himselfe as skilfull in that art as any. 
 He pip'd, I sung ; and, when he sung, I piped ; 
 By change of turaes, each making other mery ; 
 Neither envying other, nor envied, 
 So piped we, until we both were weary." 
 
 During this pleasant interchange, or rivalry, a bonie 
 swaine, named Cuddy, comes up, and asks Colin for 
 some hymne or morall laie, or carol made to praise his 
 loved lasse. The poet thus replies, 
 
 " Nor of my love, nor of my lasse (quoth he,) 
 I then did sing, as then occasion fell : 
 For love had me forlorne, forlor.ne of me, 
 That made me in that desert choose to dwell. 
 But of my river Bregog's love I soong, 
 Which to the shiny Mulla he did beare, 
 And yet doth beare, and ever will, so long 
 As water doth within his bancks appeare. 
 
 The description of the loves and union of these two 
 mountain streams, the Bregog and the Mulla, and the 
 wrath of father Mole, " that mountain hore," when he 
 learns it, is inimitable. The old man or mountain had 
 resolved to wed his daughter, Mulla, who is " fresh as 
 flowre of May," to the Allo, or Blackwater " Broad- 
 water called farre" a richer and more important 
 river :
 
 298 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 " Full faine she loved, and was belov'd full faine 
 Of her own brother river, Bregog hight, 
 So hight because of this deceitfull traine, 
 Which he with Mulla wrought to win delight. 
 But her old sire, more careful of her good, 
 And meaning her much better to preferre, 
 Did think to match her with the neighbour flood, 
 "Which Allo hight, Broad- water C8lled farre : 
 And wrought so well with his continual paine, 
 That he that river for his daughter wonne : 
 The dowre agreed, the day assigned plaine, 
 The place appointed where it should be doone. 
 Nath'lesse the nymph her former liking held ; 
 For love will not be drawne but must be ledde ; 
 And Bregog did so well her fancie weld 
 That her good will he got her first to wedde. 
 But for her father sitting still on hie, 
 Did warily still watch which way she went, 
 And eke from far obserVd with jealous eie, 
 Which way his course the wanton Bregog bent ; 
 Him to deceive, for all his watchfull ward, 
 The wily lover did devise this slight : 
 First into many parts his streame ho shar'd, 
 That, whilst the one was watcht, the other might 
 Passe unespide to meete her by the way ; 
 And then, besides, those little streames so broken 
 He under ground so closely did convey, 
 That of their passage doth appear no token, 
 Till they into the Mullaes water slide." 
 
 But father Mole has his revenge on the sly Bre- 
 gog:* 
 
 " Yet not so secret, but it was descride, 
 And told her father by a shepheard's boy, 
 Who, wondrous wroth, for that so foule despight, 
 In great revenge did roll down from his hill 
 Huge mightie stones, the which encomber might 
 His passage, and his water courses spill. 
 So of a river, which he was of old, 
 He none was made, but scattered all to nought ; 
 And, lost emong those rocks into him rold, 
 Did lose his name : so deare his love he bought." 
 
 * Sly Bregog. Spenser says it was called Bregog " because of this deceitful 
 traine," or course. JSreag, in Irish, means " a lie," and breagan, " deceptive."
 
 THE BREGOG AND MULLA. 299 
 
 We have the parish of Bregog, or Bregogue, in the 
 barony of Orrery and Kilmore, and Bregogue castle, 
 but the river which has given name to both, has 
 disappeared. Whether this has resulted from the wrath 
 of father Mole, or the drying or drainage of the soil, 
 we must leave for the present undecided. 
 
 Spenser sent a copy of this poem to Raleigh, with 
 the following letter. As the letter was written at his 
 house at Kilcolman, it merits a place in the history of 
 the county . -- 
 
 To the Right Worthy and Noble Sir Walter Raleigh, Captain 
 of Her Majesties Guard, Lord Warden of the Stanneries, and 
 Lieutenant of the County of Cornwall. 
 
 SIK, 
 
 That you may see that I am not alwaies ydle, though 
 not greatly well occupied, nor altogether undutirul, though not pre- 
 cisely officious, I make you present of this simple Pastorall,unworthie 
 of your higher conceiptfor the meannesse of the stile, but agreeing 
 with the truth in circumstance and matter. The which I humbly 
 beseech you to accept in part paiment of the infinite debt in which 
 I acknowledge myselfe bounden unto you for your singular favours, 
 and sundrie good turnes shewed me at my late being in England ; 
 and with your good countenance protect against the malice of evill 
 mouthes, which are alwaies wide open to carpe at and misconstrue 
 my simple meaning. I pray continually for your happiness. From 
 my house of Kilcolman, the 27. of December, 1591. 
 
 Yours ever humbly, 
 
 ED. SP. 
 
 Spenser could never write as he has done of our 
 rivers and mountains, if he did not love the country 
 we do not say the people of his adoption. He calls it 
 u as beautiful and sweet a country as any under 
 heaven." When describing the " Sposalls betwixt the
 
 300 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Medway and the Thames," he would fain introduce 
 our Irish rivers, and he does it with a hearty appre- 
 ciation which is positively refreshing in an English- 
 man : 
 
 " Ne thence the Irishe rivers absent were, 
 Sith no lesse famous than the reste they bee, 
 And joyne in neighbourhood of kingdome nere, 
 Why should they not likewise in love agree, 
 And joy likewise this solemne day to see ? 
 They saw it all, and present were in place : 
 Though I then all, according their degree, 
 Cannot recount, nor tell their hidden race, 
 Nor read the salvage countries through which they pace. 
 There was the Liffy rolling downe the lea ; 
 The sandy Slane ; the stony Aubrion ; 
 The spacious Shenan, spreading like a sea; 
 The pleasant Boyne; the fishy fruitful Ban; 
 Swift Awniduff, which of the English man, 
 Is cal'de Black -water; * and the Liifar deep; 
 Sad Trowis, that once his people over-ran ; 
 Strong Allo tombling from Slewlagher steep ; 
 And Mulla mine, whose waves I whilom taught to weep. 
 There also was the wide embayed Mayre ; 
 The pleesant Bandon cround with many a wood ; 
 The spreading Lee, that like an island fayre, 
 Encloseth Corke with his divided flood." 
 
 If by jolly Hobbinal, and all the shepherd's nation, 
 he intended to represent the Irish nation, the poet 
 must have been under the erroneous impression that 
 he was as much beloved as he was hated.']' Colin has 
 just returned from England : 
 
 " Colin my life, how great a losse 
 Had all the shepeard's nation by thy lacke, 
 Whilest thou wast hence all dead in dole did lie. 
 
 * Blackwater. This river is called the " Great River" Abhainn Mhor, by the 
 Four Masters. It flows for several miles between the counties of Tyrone and 
 Armagh. 
 
 f As he was Jutted. Cromwell writing to the council in favor of William 
 Spenser, the poet's grandson, says, "his grandfather was that Spenser, who by his 
 writings, touching the reduction of the Irish to civility, brought on him the odium 
 of that nation.
 
 SPENSER'S "VIEW" OF IRELAND. 301 
 
 The woods were heard to waile full many a sythe, 
 And all the birds with silence to complaine ; 
 The fields with faded flowers did seem to mourne, 
 And all their flocks from feeding to refrain. 
 But now both Avoods and fields and floods revive, 
 Since thou art come, their course of merriment, 
 That us late dead hast made again alive." 
 
 If Spenser had only written poetry, or had never 
 written his " Yiew of the State of Ireland," his 
 memory and genius would be revered in this country. 
 Even Ware, who edited the work, says, " It was to be 
 wished that some passages in his Yiew of the state of 
 Ireland had been tempered with more moderation.'' It 
 was Spenser's impression that this country could never 
 be reformed or civilised till the wretched inhabitants had 
 been driven by English soldiers into the woods and 
 morasses, and left there to starve. This idea had been 
 broached in State Papers fifty years before Spenser 
 wrote his work.* We are happy to reflect that this 
 work has not the merit of being original. We doubt 
 that the poet's mind was capable of originating any- 
 thing so fiendlike or ghoulish ; it was bad enough in 
 him. to adopt it. His own experience of what the people 
 suffered during the Desmond rebellion should have 
 softened his heart. It is with unmingled regret that 
 we quote the following passage. Would we could 
 blot it out of the page of Irish history. 
 
 " The end will, I assure me, be very short, and much sooner 
 than can be in so great a trouble as it seemeth hoped for, although 
 there should none of them fall by the sword, or be slain by the 
 soldier, yet thus being kept from manurance, and their cattle from 
 running abroad, by this hard restraint, they would quickly consume 
 themselves, and devour one another. t The proof whereof I saw suffi- 
 
 * Wrote this work Spenser wrote his View of the state of Ireland, in 1596. 
 It lay for many years in MS., in Archbishop Usher's library, till published by Sir 
 James Ware, in 1633. It was dedicated to Lord Wcntworth, Lord Deputy.
 
 302 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 ciently exampled in these late wars of Munster ; for, notwithstand- 
 ing that the same was a most rich and plentiful country, full of corn 
 and cattle, that you would have thought they should have been able 
 to stand long, yet ere one year and a half they were brought to 
 sueh wretchedness, as that any stony heart would have rued the 
 same. Out of every corner of the woods and glens they came 
 creeping forth upon their hands, for their legs could not bear them ; 
 they looked like anatomies of death, they spoke like ghosts crying 
 out of their graves ; and if they found a plot of water-cresses or 
 shamrocks, there they flocked as to a feast for the time, yet 
 not able long to continue there withal ; that in short space, there 
 were none almost left, and a most populous and plentiful country 
 suddenly left void of man and beast ; yet sure in all that war there 
 perished not many by the sword, but all by the extremity of famine, 
 which they themselves had wrought." View of the state of Ire- 
 land. 
 
 How any man could describe a state of things 
 which he says would have melted a "stony heart," 
 in order to show how the thing could be done again, 
 is almost incredible. His heart must have been iron 
 and not stone. 
 
 Two years after writing this book, the poet was 
 burned out of Kilcolman Castle, one of his children 
 perishing in the flames. A year after this, in 1599, he 
 died of starvation, in London, for u lake of bred," as 
 Ben Johnson says. 
 
 It is evident that Spenser made enemies in England 
 by his works. In his letter to Raleigh from Kilcolman, 
 he speaks of the " malice of evil mouths, which are 
 always wide open to carpe at and misconstrue his 
 simple meaning." He refers to the " Faerie Queene,'' 
 which he had lately published in London. He seems 
 to have apprehended something of this kind, for in dedi- 
 cating the poem to Sir Walter Ealeigh, he says,
 
 THE TWO QUEENS. 303 
 
 (< knowing how doubtfully all allegories may be con- 
 strued, and this book of mine, which I have entitled 
 the "Faerie Queene," being a continued allegory, or 
 dark conceit, I have thought it good, as well for avoid- 
 ing of jealous opinions and misconstructions, as also for 
 your better light in reading thereof, to discover unto 
 you the general intention and meaning." He then 
 informs us that the book "is to fashion a gentleman or 
 noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline." 
 
 One of his modes of doing this is by instituting a 
 comparison between the two churches. This compari- 
 son runs through the whole book. It is Dryden's 
 miHk- white fawn and impure panther reversed. The 
 " Faerie Queene " is generally as intangible and 
 shadowy a personage as Prince Arthur himself, but 
 she now and then comes out with all the distinct 
 lineaments of the Queen of England. He is thought, 
 on the other hand, to have represented Mary, Queen of 
 Scots, under the character of the false but fair Duessa. 
 It is difficult to say whether the following lines are 
 intended as a description of the rival queens or rival 
 churches. We doubt if these destinctions were well 
 defined in the poet's mind. 
 
 " So doubly lov'd of ladies unlike faire, 
 The one seeming such, the other such indeede, 
 One day in doubt I cast for to compare 
 Whether in beauties glorie did exceede ; 
 A rosy girlonde was the victor's meede. 
 Both seemde to win, and both seemde won to be ; 
 So hard the discorde was to be agreede. 
 Fralissa was as faire, as faire mote bee, 
 And ever false Duessa seemed as faire as shee. 
 The wicked witch now seeing all this while, 
 The doubtful baullance equally to sway, 
 What not by right, she cast to win by guile ;
 
 304 HISTORY OP CORK. 
 
 And, by her hellish science raised streight way. 
 
 A foggy mist that overcast the day, 
 
 And a dull blast that breathing on her face, 
 
 Dimmed her former beauties shining ray, 
 
 And with foule ugly forme did her disgrace : 
 
 Then was she fayre alone, when none was faire in place." 
 
 If James VI. of Scotland, now on the point of 
 ascending the throne of England, believed the follow- 
 ing lines as intended to describe his mother, Mary, 
 Queen of Scots, (and State Papers lead to this conclu- 
 sion,) neither he nor his friends could countenance the 
 poet: 
 
 " Thensforth I tooke Duessa for my dame, 
 And in the witch unweeting joyd a long time ; 
 Ne ever wist, but that she was the same : 
 Till on a day (that day is everie prime, 
 When witches wont do penance for their crime,) 
 I chaunst to see her in her proper hew, 
 Bathing her selfe in origane and thyme : 
 A filthy foule old woman I did vew, 
 That ever to have toucht her I did deadly rew. 
 
 Shakespeare, in his "Midsummer Night's Dream," 
 speaks of the rival queens more like a gentle knight 
 and poet. The following description is intended for 
 the Scottish queen : 
 
 OBEEON. " My gentle Puck come hither, thou remember'st 
 Since once I sat upon a promontory, 
 And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back, 
 Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath, 
 That the rude sea grew civil at her song ; 
 And certain skars shot madly from their spheres, 
 To hear the sea-maid's music.'' 
 
 Nothing can be more beautiful than the following 
 description of our maiden queen, although it contains 
 none of the fulsome and extravagant flattery of 
 Spenser :
 
 THE TWO QUEENS. 305 
 
 " Flying between the cold moon and the earth, 
 Cupid all arm'd. A certain aim he took 
 At a fair vestal throned by the west ; 
 And loos' d his love-shaft smartly from his bow, 
 As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts ; 
 But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft, 
 Quench' d in the chaste beams of the wat'ry moon, 
 And the imperial vot'ress passed on, 
 In maiden meditation, fancy-free. 
 Yet mark'd 1 where the bolt of Cupid fell : 
 It fell upon a little western flower 
 Before, milk-white ; now purple with love' s wound. 
 
 The " inilk- white flower, now purple with love's 
 wound," we take to be Mary, purpled with the blood 
 of Darnley, and with the blood of Norfolk, and with 
 her Wn blood. Love, unhappy love, had wrought 
 all this ruin. But how superior this description to 
 Spenser's picture of that most fair, amiable, and erring 
 princess. 
 
 The rising sun has more worshippers than the 
 setting sun. Elizabeth's ministers were at this time 
 carrying on a private correspondence with James VI. 
 of Scotland, and would not be likely to cherish the 
 man who had villified his mother. But the poet may 
 have injured himself just as much by his foolish 
 laudations of Lord Grey his Talus with the iron 
 flail who, notwithstanding his zeal in the massacre 
 of the Spaniards and Italians at Smerwick, was in the 
 end attainted of treason. His praises of this nobleman 
 must have nettled Elizabeth. He fell between two 
 thrones. 
 
 Of Spenser's genius as a poet there can be but one 
 opinion. It was of the very highest order. Kings 
 and queens and politicians may have been frowning 
 when he died, but, as Camden says, the Muses were 
 
 21
 
 306 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 smiling at his birth : " Musis adeo arridentibus 
 natus, ut omnes Anglicos superioris a3vi Poetas, ne 
 Chaucero quidem concive excepto, superaret." Spenser 
 sent a portion of the " Faerie Queene " to Sir Philip 
 Sydney, in manuscript. After reading a few stanzas, he 
 ordered his steward to give the bearer fifty pounds. 
 After reading a few more, he directed him to double 
 it. He read on, and told him to make it two hundred, 
 but added, " Prithee, be expeditious, or I shall give 
 him my whole estate." When Essex heard too late 
 of the poet's distress in London, he sent him twenty 
 pieces, which Spenser refused, saying he had no time 
 to spend them. 
 
 Did he intend this as a reproof for previous neglect ? 
 Spenser was as proud as he was poor. To beg he was 
 ashamed, as we may conclude from the following lines 
 in " Mother Hubberd's Tale : " 
 
 " Most miserable man, whom wicked fate 
 Hath brought to court to sue for that which 
 Few have found, and many a one has missed. 
 Full little knowest thou, that hast not tried, 
 What hell it is, in suing long to bide : 
 To lose good days, that might be better spent ; 
 To waste long nights in pensive discontent ; 
 To speed to-day, to be put back to-morrow ; 
 To feed on hope, to pine with fear and sorrow ; 
 To have thy princess' grace, yet want her peers ; 
 To have thy asking, yet wait for many years ; 
 To fret thy soul with crosses and with cares ; 
 To eat thy heart thro' comfortless despairs ; 
 To fawn, to crouch, to wait, to ride, to run ; 
 To spend, to give, to want, to be undone" 
 
 The queen had ordered that Spenser should get 100 
 for one of his poems. " What ! " exclaimed the Lord 
 Treasurer Burleigh, " all this for a single song ? "
 
 THE POET'S WIFE, 307 
 
 " Then give him what is reason," replied Elizabeth. 
 The poet waited for some time, and got nothing, when 
 he wrote her majesty the following lines, which pro- 
 cured the poet his money and the peer a rebuke. 
 
 " I was promised on a time 
 To have ' reason ' for my rhyme ; 
 From that time unto this season, 
 I received nor rhyme nor reason." 
 
 The poet left a widow and four children three sons 
 and a daughter. We learn from the " Amoretti " 
 that his wife's name was Elizabeth. The following 
 lines do him high honor as a son, a subject, and a 
 husband : 
 
 <( Most happy letters ! fram'd by skilfull trade 
 With which that happy name was first desynd, 
 The which three times thrise happy hath me made, 
 With guifts of body, fortune, and of mind. 
 The first my being to me gave by kind, 
 From mother's womb deriv'd by dew descent; 
 The second is my sovereigne queene most kind, 
 That honour and large richesse to me lent : 
 The third, my love, my life's last ornament 
 By whom my spirit out of dust was raysed : 
 To speak her prayse and glory excellent, 
 Of all alive most worthy to be praysed. 
 Ye three Elizabeths ! for ever live 
 That three such graces did unto me give." 
 
 If we can receive a lover's description of his bride, 
 she was very beautiful, though but a " countrey lasse," 
 and as good as she was fair. We have the follow- 
 ing description in the " Faerie Queene : " 
 
 " Yet was she certes but a countrey lasse, 
 Yet she all other countrey lasses farre did passe : 
 So farre as did the daughter of the day 
 All other lights in light excell ; 
 So farre doth she in beautiful array 
 Above all other lasses bear the bell, 
 Ne lesse in virtue that beseemes her well
 
 308 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Doth she exceede the rest of all her race ; 
 For which the graces, that here wont to dwell, 
 Have for more honour brought her to this place, 
 And graced her so much to be another grace." 
 
 "We are disposed to conclude she was a Cork woman, 
 for the poet, on his wedding morning, invokes the 
 " scaly trouts " of Mulla to be present, 
 
 " To help to decke her and to help to sing, 
 That all the woods may answer and their eccho ring." 
 
 It is not improbable that the marriage was celebrated 
 in the city of Cork, of which the poet was sheriff in 
 1597. 
 
 " Tell me, ye merchant daughters, did ye see 
 So fayre a creature in your town before ? 
 Her goodly eyes, lyke saphyres shining bright, 
 Her forehead ivory white, 
 Her lips lyke cherries charming men to byte." 
 
 Spenser's widow, who seems to have regained the 
 Kilcolman estate, was married a second time in 1603, 
 to Eoger Seckerstone. We cannot say whether it was 
 her interest in the Kilcolman property, or her beauty 
 which charmed Seckerstone " to byte." 
 
 Sylvanus, the poet's eldest son, who felt that his 
 rights had been compromised by this marriage, peti- 
 tioned the Lord Chancellor the original petition is in 
 the Rolls Office, Dublin who issued an order for an 
 inquisition. The inquisition was taken in Mallow, in 
 the county of Cork, the 7th of August, 1611. 
 
 " The said Jurors doe finde and present that the p. te or p. econ 
 (part or portion) of a seignory granted by these patents from the 
 late Queene Elizabeth unto Edmond Spencer, late of Kilcolmayn, 
 in the Countie of Corke, Esquire, deceased, after his death descended 
 unto Sylvanus Spencer, his sone and heire, whoe doth nowe possesse 
 and enjoy the same, in manner and forme as followeth, viz. : The
 
 THE KILCOLMA.N PROPERTY. 309 
 
 said Sylvanus Spencer is seized in his demeasne as of fee of the 
 Castell of Kilcoltnane, with ccc. acres of land p. cell of the said 
 seignory, being the demeasne lands of the same." 
 
 The " Search," or " Inquisition," goes on to say that other 
 portions of the property were " set and leased to Edward Henton, 
 who had 400 acres ; David Lowes, who had a house and 100 acres ; 
 Geffrey Hoorde, who had 100 acres ; John Liech, who had a house 
 and 100 acres; John Ridgwaie, who had 400 acres; John Roche, 
 who had a house and 100 acres." 
 
 The Inquisition goes on to say, that " The said Jurors doe finde 
 that the two ploughlandes, called Ballyellish Ardgilbert and Arda- 
 dame, containing VI. c. [600] acres of land, or thereabouts, part 
 of the seignory of Kilcolemane, were evicted by Nicholas Shy name 
 from the said Edmond Spencer, before Sr Thomas Norreis, Knight ; 
 Sr Robert Gardener, Knight, and other Commissioners for the Pro- 
 yifice of Munster. And that upon the said order an abatement of 
 the rente hath been given to Sylvanus Spencer, viz. : VI Vis. 
 VHId. The said Jurors doe also finde that John Power, of Doner- 
 aile, doth withholde the ploughlande and half of Carrigyus and 
 Keylme Enyth, containing ccc. acres of lande, or thereabouts, from 
 the said Sylvanus Spencer, by what title we know not ; and we also 
 finde that the said Sylvanus Spencer hath noe abatement of rent for 
 the said ccc. acres of lande." 
 
 Sylvanus Spenser married the eldest daughter of 
 David Nagle,* of Monanimy, in the barony of Fermoy, 
 and county of Cork, by his wife Ellen Eoche, daughter 
 of William Koche, of Ballyhowly. Sylvanus died in 
 1638. 
 
 Lawrence Spenser, of Bandon, was the poet's second 
 son. He died somewhere about 1654. He is not 
 known to have married, or to have left descendants. 
 
 Peregrine Spenser, the poet's youngest SOD, was 
 married, though we do not know to whom. It is 
 
 * David Nagk.1\& mother of the statesman Edmund Burke, was a Nagle, 
 the grand-niece of Sylvanus Spenser's wife. The orator may have been called 
 Edmund after the poet. He passed a portion of his childhood in the parish of 
 Monanimy.
 
 310 HISTORY OF COKK. 
 
 stated that his eldest brother, Sylvanus, " in order to 
 prefer him in marriage," made over on him the lands 
 of Renny, near Kilcolman. He seems to have run 
 through this estate. In a MS. in Trinity College, 
 Dublin, he is described, on the 4th of May, 1641, as a 
 protestant, resident in the barony of Fermoy, and " so 
 impoverished by the troubles as to be unable to pay 
 his debts." He left one son, Hugolin. 
 
 Catherine Spenser, the poet's daughter, is mentioned 
 by Bentham, who places her between Sylvanus and 
 Lawrence, and marries her to William Wiseman, of 
 Bandon, but assigns her no descendants. 
 
 Edmund Spenser, the eldest son of Sylvanus, or the 
 eldest son of the eldest son, (who, we conclude, was 
 called after his grandfather, the poet,) had his estates 
 erected into the manor of Kilcolman, by royal letters 
 patent, on February 18, 1638. This was done to 
 remedy defective titles. He 'died unmarried and 
 without issue. 
 
 William Spenser, the second son of Sylvanus, became 
 heir to his brother's estate, of which he was afterwards 
 deprived. The following letter of Oliver Cromwell, 
 respecting the restoration of the estate, and dated 
 Whitehall, 27th of March, 1657, will be read with 
 interest : 
 
 " To OTJB EIGHT TBTTSTY AND BIGHT WELL-BELOVED, OTTB 
 COUNCIL IN IBELAND: 
 
 " A petition hath been exhibited unto us by William Spenser, 
 setting forth that being but seven years old at the beginning of the 
 rebellion in Ireland, [1641], he repaired with his mother (his father 
 being then dead) to the city of Cork, and during the rebellion con- 
 tinued in the English quarters. That he never bore arms or acted
 
 311 
 
 against the Commonwealth of England. That his grandfather, 
 Edmund Spenser, and his father, were both Protestants, from whom 
 an estate of lands in the barony of Fermoy, in the county of Cork, 
 descended on him, which, during the rebellion, yielded him little 
 or nothing towards his relief. That the said estate hath been lately 
 given out to the soldiers in satisfaction of their arrears, only upon 
 the account of his professing the Popish religion, which, since his 
 coming to years of discretion, he hath, as he professes, utterly re- 
 nounced. That his grandfather was that Spenser, who, by his 
 writings touching the reduction of the Irish to civility, brought on 
 him the odium of that nation ; and for these works, and his other 
 good services, Queen Elizabeth conferred on him the estate which 
 the said William Spenser now claims. We have also been informed 
 that the gentleman is of civil conversation, and that the extremity 
 his wants have brought him to have not prevailed over him to put 
 him. upon indirect or evil practices for a livelihood. And if, upon 
 inquiry, you shall find his case to be such, we judge it just and 
 reasonable, and do therefore desire and authorize you that he be 
 forthwith restored to his estate, and that reprisal lands be given to 
 the soldiers elsewhere ; in the doing whereof our satisfaction will 
 be greater by the continuation of that estate to the issue of his 
 grandfather, for whose eminent deserts and services to the Common- 
 wealth that estate was first given him. 
 " We rest your loving friend, 
 
 "OLIVER P." 
 
 The estate was restored, but not till after the restora- 
 tion of the Stuarts. In July 31, 1678, he obtained a 
 royal grant of other property, to the extent of nearly 
 two thousand acres, in the counties Galway and Eos- 
 common, among which was Ballinasloe, so famous for 
 its fair. At the Eevolution he joined King William, 
 and it is stated in a representation of his claims, drawn 
 up about 1700, that he had rendered important public 
 services, by acting as a guide to General Ginckell, 
 (afterwards Earl of Athlone) in his military operations 
 in the South. For his zeal in this way he lost 300
 
 312 HISTORY OF COEE. 
 
 herd of black cattle and 1,500 sheep, had his house 
 plundered, and his only son wounded in twenty places 
 " by the Irish army." In consideration of his services 
 and sufferings, William III., in 1697, granted him the 
 forfeited lands of Eenny, which had belonged to his 
 cousin Hugolin, who had taken the opposite side.* 
 His title to these lands was disputed in 1700 by the 
 Board of Trustees, appointed to determine the validity 
 of all such grants. He went to England, to urge his 
 suit, was introduced to the poet, Congreve, who intro- 
 duced him to Montague, afterwards Earl of Halifax, 
 then at the head of the Treasury, by whose means the 
 grant was ratified. 
 
 This William Spenser (second son of Sylvanus) left, 
 by his wife Barbara, a son, Nathaniel, -J* and a daughter, 
 Susannah, of whom nothing is known, except that she 
 is mentioned in her brother's will. We conclude that 
 this Nathaniel was the son who received the twenty 
 wounds from the Irish who made the raid on his 
 father's sheep and black cattle. We find this son, in 
 November, 1697, uniting with his father in executing 
 a mortgage on their estates in Cork, Galway, and Eos- 
 common, for 2100; and in February, 21, 1716, in 
 selling the lands of Ballinasloe, to Frederick Trench, 
 ancestor of the present possessor, the Earl of Clancarty. 
 
 This Nathaniel Spenser, son of William, son of 
 Sylvanus, eldest son of the poet, or in other words 
 Nathaniel, great-grandson of the poet, was styled 
 
 Opposite side Hugolin, united with his Catholic relatives the Nagles, who 
 were the zealous supporters of James II. 
 
 f Nathaniel Spenser. A third son of Sylvanus Spenser, and grandson of th* 
 poet, was so called. He was a clergyman of the Established Church. He mar- 
 ried Margaret Deane, and died in 1669, intestate, and without issne, at Bally- 
 cannon, in the county Waterford.
 
 SPEXSEE'S DESCENDANTS. 313 
 
 Spenser of Renny, which appears to have been the only 
 property that remained in the family. His wife bore 
 the poetical name of Rosamond. He died in 1734, 
 leaving four children, Edmund, Nathaniel, John, and 
 Barbara. 
 
 Edmund, the eldest son, married Anne, the daughter 
 of John Freeman, of Ballymague, in this eounty. 
 
 Of his brothers Nathaniel and John, or of his sister 
 Barbara, we have no reliable information. It is pro- 
 bable they died unmarried, at the old family residence 
 at Eenny. Mr. O'Flanagan, in his " Guide to the 
 Blackwater," says the last of the Spensers, of whom 
 we^have an authentic account, lived at Eenny, or 
 Eiinny, and had contracted an intimacy with his house- 
 keeper from which she inferred that he meant to marry 
 her, and that this woman, who was also employed by 
 her master as his barber, cut his throat while shaving 
 him on the morning of the day on which he was to 
 have been married to a lady in the neighbourhood. 
 " In the small antique dwelling at Renny is pointed 
 out the room in which she did the deed.'' 
 
 This would be a tragic winding up of the poet's 
 immediate descendants, but there was a later than he, 
 "Edmund Spenser, of Mallow," probably the nephew 
 of the murdered man, and the son of Edmund Spenser 
 who married Anne Freeman. He died in Mallow about 
 1790, leaving this sad epitaph for his tomb : 
 
 " HERE LIES THE BODY or EDMUND SPENSER, 
 
 GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDSON or THE POET SPENSZR, 
 
 UNFORTUNATE FROM HIS CRADLE TO HIS GRAYS "
 
 314 HISTORY OP CORK, 
 
 Hearing that he was buried in the graveyard of 
 Mallow Church, I spent some time in seeking for a 
 tomb-stone containing such an epitaph, but without 
 success, although informed by two or three persons 
 that they had seen the name of Spenser upon one of 
 the stones. But very many of the inscriptions stand 
 in need of the friendly chisel of some " Old Mortality" 
 
 This must be the Spenser mentioned by a writer in 
 the " Anthologia Hibernica," in 1793, as having 
 resided a few years before in Mallow, and as having 
 been " in possession of an original portrait of the poet, 
 which he valued so highly as to refuse 500 which had 
 been offered for it, with many curious records and 
 papers concerning his venerable ancestor." 
 
 Doctor Todd speaks of a daughter of this Edmund 
 Spenser of Mallow, as having married a Wm. Burns, 
 who held some office in the English custom-house. 
 She, too, was said to have had an original picture of 
 the poet. 
 
 There can be no doubt that Mrs. Sherlock of Cork, 
 now deceased, a descendant of the poet, had a picture 
 of her illustrious ancestor, which she sent to her father, 
 in London. Her daughter, who is still living, informed 
 the writer that she saw the picture. 
 
 I lately visited Kilcolman Castle, the residence of 
 the poet. It stands on the side of a small hill, about 
 two miles from the town of Doneraile, and eight from 
 Mallow. The castle is clothed with ivy to the top of 
 the tower the only tower which now stands, and 
 which is about forty feet high. Among the ivy peeps 
 out, here and there, the friendly looking little flower 
 called the " forget-me not.'' Judging from the few
 
 KILCOLMAN CASTLE. 315 
 
 names inscribed on the old stones, I should conclude 
 the ruin is very seldom visited by strangers, or indeed 
 by any one. The district around is greatly impo- 
 verished. Near the base of the castle is a stagnant 
 lake, and on the margin of the lake stand a few deso- 
 late cabins. The people living on the estate and in 
 the neighbourhood, appear never to have heard of the 
 poet's name. An old shepherd, who was tending a 
 flock of sheep within a few fields of the castle, told me 
 that no one had lived in it " during duration." The 
 poet who was once the Genius Loci of that part of the 
 country, has not left behind even a "Nominis umbra." 
 
 " Sic gloria mundi transit."
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE EARL OF ESSEX DEATH OF SIB THOMAS NORRIS WARHAM 
 ST. LEGES AND HTTGH MAGUIRE SLAIN SIE GEORGE CARE-W- 
 AND JAMES FITZ-THOMAS. 
 
 A.D. 15991600. 
 
 EGBERT, Earl of Essex,* came to Ireland as Lord 
 Deputy in April, 1599, with an army of twenty thou- 
 sand foot and two thousand horse. So great an army) 
 according to the Four Masters, had not visited Ireland 
 since the time of Strongbow. He published a general 
 amnesty, and promised to reinstate those who had been 
 unjustly deprived of their property ; but "not many 
 of the Irish responded to those proclamations," they 
 had, in fact, restored themselves. In the course of seven- 
 teen days, they left not within the length and breadth 
 of the country of the Geraldines, a single son of a Saxon 
 which they did not either kill or expel. 
 
 The deputy sent part of his army to garrison at 
 Newry, Dundalk, Drogheda, and other towns, and 
 marched with a force of about seven thousand to the 
 South. He was attacked by O'More, and other Irish 
 chieftains, in intricate ways and narrow passes. Accord- 
 ing to O'Sullivan Beare, five hundred of his best men 
 fell in a defile called Bearna na Cleti, or the Gap of the 
 Feathers, on account of the number of plumed hats or 
 
 Earl of Essex. His father, Walter Devereux, of whom we speak in chap. 
 xii., p. 182, died in 1576, some said of poison. He died in Dublim, 
 "bfre the end of a fortnight of a sudden fit of sickness. His shirt and 
 heart were sent to his friends as tokens of his death," Four Masters, A.D. 1576. 
 His widow, Lettice Knolles, married Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.
 
 SIR THOMAS NORRIS' DEATH. 317 
 
 helmets which strewed the ground. He pushed on, 
 notwithstanding, into the Butler's country, where he 
 was met by the Earl of Ormond. Sir Thomas Norris 
 advanced from Cork to Kilmallock, hoping to overtake 
 him before his arrival in Limerick. Thomas Burke, 
 of Castle connell, who was then in rebellion, met the 
 president within two miles of Pallasgreen, in the county 
 of Limerick. Sir Thomas fell mortally wounded "from 
 the thrust of a pike, where the jaw-bone joins the upper 
 part of the neck." 
 
 The Eour Masters say he was carried from the field 
 to Kilmallock, where he died in six weeks O'Sullivan 
 Beare says, to Mallow, where he died within fifteen 
 days, and that he received his death- wound from the 
 hand of John Burke, Nobilis Connachtus : 
 
 "Aliquot inde mensibus Thomas Burkus Castel- 
 conelli Baronis frater qui ab Anglis desciuit receptis 
 a Eaymundo Barone, et eius fratre Guilielmo militi- 
 bus in Muscria Kurkia* castella non satis munita 
 expugnabat quso circa loca Norris qui cum exercitu 
 erat, cum equitibus amplius ducentis, & peditibus mille 
 in Thoman ire contendit, illumque cum equitatu, & 
 bombardarijs ad Killthiliam nanciscitur. Thomas, qui 
 ducentos tantum perdites tune habuit, loco cedere 
 putauit. Eare non contentus Norris in eius ultimos 
 ordines cum equitatu proruit : in cuius impetum 
 Thomas sese conuertit, & Johannes Burkus Nobilis 
 Connachtus Norrisem hasta per Galeam ferit in capite 
 ferream hastse cuspidem relinquens. Norris vulnere 
 
 * Muscria Kurkia, or Mucraighe Chuirch. " This was the ancient name of 
 the barony of Clan-William, in the south-west of the county of Tipperary. The 
 name Clan- William is derived from the clan or race of William Burke." Doctor
 
 318 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 afflictus Moalam redit obi intra quiudecim dies mo- 
 ritur." Hist. Cathol. Her., #c., torn. 3, lib. 5, c. vi. 
 
 Sir Henry Norris,* whom the Four Masters style 
 11 a noble knight, of great name and honor," fell about 
 the same time, at Bale-an-Eleteraigh, (now Finneters- 
 town, in the parish of Adare, in the county Limerick) 
 fighting by the side of Essex, with whom he came to 
 Ireland. The following passage from the Four Masters 
 is highly spiced with sarcasm : 
 
 " The soldiers and warriors of the Earl of Desmond 
 and the Geraldine host, showed them their faces. 
 Fierce and morose was the salute and welcome which 
 they gave to the representative of their sovereign, the 
 Earl of Essex, on his first visit to them ; for they 
 discharged into their eyes the fire and smoke of their 
 black powder, and showers of balls from straightly- 
 aimed guns; and he heard the uproar, clamour, and 
 exulting shouts of their champions and common sol- 
 diers, instead of the submission, honor, and mild and 
 courteous words that should have been spoken to 
 him." This rude reception caused Essex to leave 
 Munster sooner than he had contemplated : 
 
 " The Earl of Es?ex then proceeded to Kilmallock, and having 
 remained three nights in that town, he directed his course south- 
 wards, towards Ceann-Feabhrath (a part) of the mountain of Caoin, 
 the son of Dearg-dualach, with the intention of passing into Roche's 
 country, and instead of proceeding to Cork, as it was thought he 
 would have done, he directed his course across the ford at the 
 Monastery of Fennoy,f and from thence (he marched with his 
 
 * Sir Henry Norris. Henricus Norris eques Auratus Anglus Johannis & 
 Thomse frater in Catholicos equo vectus firmo bombardariorum agmine vallatus 
 plumbea glande confossus egno corruit. Hist. Cathol. Her. Cotnp., torn. 3, 
 lib. 5, o. ix. 
 
 f Monastery at Fermoy. An Abbey of Cistercian Monks was founded bere in 
 1270 by Sir Richard de Rupella or de Rupe (now Roche) who was Lord Chief 
 Justice "of Ireland in 126L.
 
 EARL OF ESSEX'S KETREAT. 319 
 
 forces) to Conachail,* Magh-Ile,,f and Lismore-Mochuda. During 
 all this time the Geraldines continued to follow, pursue, and press 
 upon them, to shoot at, wound, and slaughter them. When the 
 earl had arrived in the Desies, the Geraldines returned in exulta- 
 tion and hih spirits to their territories and houses. On the arrival 
 of the same earl in Dungarvan, the Earl of Thomond parted from 
 him there (and proceeded) along the seaside to Youghall, and from 
 thence to Cork, and afterwards to Limerick. The Earl of Essex 
 proceeded from Dungarvan to Waterford, thence into the country 
 of the Butlers, and into Leinster. They marched not by a pros- 
 perous progress by the roads along which they passed from Water- 
 ford to Dublin, for the Irish of Leinster were following and pur- 
 suing, surrounding and environing them, so that they slew and 
 slaughtered great numbers of them in every road and way by which 
 they passed. The Gaels of Ireland were wont to say that it would 
 have been better for him that he had not gone on this expedition 
 ffom Dublin to Hy-Connell-Gaura, as he returned back after the 
 first conflict that was maintained against him, -without (having 
 received) submission or respect from the Geraldines, and without 
 having achieved in his progress any exploit worth boasting of, ex- 
 cepting only the taking of Cathair-Duine-Iasgaigh." 
 
 " After the killing of the president of the two pro- 
 vinces of Munster, and the governor of Connaught, J 
 as we have related in their proper places, the Earl of 
 Essex and O'Neill (Hugh, the son of Fedorcha, son of 
 Con Bacach) came to a conference in the first days of 
 the month of September, and the end of their con- 
 ference was that a peace was ratified between them 
 till the end of two months, during which time each of 
 
 * Conachail, now Connough, a village in the barony of Kinataloon, in the east of 
 the county Cork. Here are the ruins of a castle, built by Thomas, the father of 
 the Sugan Earl. 
 
 f Magh-Ile, M oygeely. Four Masters, O Donovan, A.J). 1599, p 2119. 
 
 \ The Governor of Connaught, Sir Conyers Clifford. 0' Sullivan Beare say, 
 he was pierced through with a pike. "lie was left feebly stretched on the 
 inomntain," near Bealach Buidhe, in the townland of Garroo, in Connaught, 
 whcii O'Rourke, who had joined O'Donnell's forces, came up, and ordered him 
 to be beheaded. See " A brief Relation of the Defeat in the Corleus, ihe 15th 
 of August, 1.-J99," edited for th Irish Archaeological Society, by the RCY. 
 Richard Butlir, 1843.
 
 320 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 them was to have his own part of the English and 
 Irish. When the Earl of Essex had concluded a peace 
 with O'Neill at this time, he proceeded to Dublin, and 
 he remained not long there when he went to England, 
 after having displayed a regal pomp the most splendid 
 that any Englishman had ever exhibited in Ireland. 
 He left Ireland without peace or tranquility, without 
 Lord Justice, Governor, or President, excepting only 
 that he delivered up the regal sword to the Lord Chan- 
 cellor and to Sir Eobert Gardiner. It was not known 
 to any of the Irish at this time, whether the earl had 
 gone to England to remain there, or return back again." 
 
 In the conference between O'Neill and Essex 
 which took place at Ballyclinch, now Anaghclart 
 Bridge, on the river Lagan the northern chieftain 
 demanded that the Catholic religion should be tolerated, 
 that the principle officers of state and the judges of the 
 land should be Irishmen, and that he, O'Donnell, and 
 Desmond, should enjoy the lands possessed by their 
 ancestors. Essex had no authority to make such 
 concession, so they parted after arranging an armistice 
 of two months, of which the deputy took advantage 
 to sail for England, about the first of November, 1599. 
 
 O'Neill opened the campaign in January, 1600, by 
 marching into the South "to confirm his friendship 
 with his allies in the war, and to wreak his vengeance 
 upon his enemies." He was met and welcomed at the 
 gates of Cashel by James Fitz-Thomas, the Sugan 
 Earl of Desmond, now the arch- traitor of Munster. 
 They proceeded westward through Clann- Gibbon, the 
 Eoche's country, and the territory of Barrymore. The 
 Barry, at this time, was David, a loyal subject, so
 
 O'NEILL'S CAMP AT LNXISCARRA. 321 
 
 O'Neill, who only preyed upon his enemies, or as 
 he would say, his country's enemies, " traversed, plun- 
 dered, burned, from one extremity to the other, both 
 plain and wood, both level and rugged, so that no one 
 hoped or expected that it could be inhabited for a long 
 time afterwards.'' It was even a longer time before 
 Barry forgave O'Neill or the Earl the injuries they did 
 him. 
 
 Leaving Barry more, write the Four Masters, " they 
 crossed the Lee, and pitched their camps between the 
 rivers Lee and Bandon, * on the confines of Muskerry 
 and Carbery." "To this camp, came all the Mac 
 Caxthys, both southern and northern. Thither repaired 
 two who were at strife with each other" Florence 
 Mac Carthy, who had married lady Ellen, the daughter 
 of the late Earl of Clancare, and Donnell his " base- 
 born " son. The strife was to know which should be 
 the Mac Carthy More. O'Neill and the assembled 
 chieftains decided in favor of Florence, who was then 
 and there installed. " Thither repaired the sons of the 
 chiefs of Allow," the Mac Carthys of Dhuallow 
 thither repaired the O'Donohoes, O'Donovans, and 
 O'Mahonys, and the greater number of the English 
 and Irish of the two provinces of Munster," with the 
 exception of David Barry, Cormac Mac Carthy, of Mus- 
 kerry, and 0' Sullivan Beare. Those who did not 
 attend, sent presents and tokens of adhesion or sub- 
 mission. 
 
 It was during O'Neill's visit to the south that 
 Warham St. Leger and Maguire encountered and slew 
 
 * Between the rivers Lee and Handon We discover from a letter signed by 
 
 Florence Mac Carthy, Owen MacEggan, and Donnell O'Donovan, that " O'Xeale's 
 campe " was "at Iniscare," now Inniscarra, in the barony of Jiarrett3, about five 
 miles south west of Cork. Pacata Hibcrnia, book ii , ch. 6. 
 
 22
 
 322 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 each other near the gates of Cork. This story is very 
 differently told by the Four Masters and the author of 
 the Pacata Hihernia. The former assert that Maguire 
 went to scour the country in the vicinity of O'Neill's 
 camp, of which St. Leger was advised, and went out, 
 with a body of mail-clad horsemen, to meet him, as he 
 marched through a narrow defile, by which he knew 
 Maguire would pass; that he had not been long in 
 ambush when Maguire came up. They met, hand to 
 hand, and were both mortally wounded. 
 
 The following is from the Pacata Hibernia : 
 
 " Sir Warham St. Leger and Sir Henry Power, riding out of the 
 citie for recreation, to take the aire, accompanied with sundry 
 captaines and gentlemen, with a few horse for their guard, not 
 dreaming of an enemie neere at hande, carelessly riding every one 
 as he thought good ; within a mile of the towne, or little more, Sir 
 Warham St. Leger and one of his servants, a little straggling from 
 his companie, was in a narrow way suddenly charged by Macguire, 
 who, with some horse (likewise dispersed) had spread a good 
 circuit of ground, in hope either to get some bootie, or to have the 
 killing of some subjects. They charged each other ; Sir Warham 
 Discharged his pistoll and shot the traytor, and hee [St. Leger] 
 was strucken with the other's [Maguire's] horseman's staffe in the 
 head, of which wounds either [each] of them dyed, but none else 
 on either side was slaine." 
 
 This Hugh Maguire was Lord of Fermanagh, and 
 a commander of cavalry under Hugh O'Neill. Sir 
 John Davies says, " Hugh Macguire, that was slaine 
 in Munster, was indeed a valiant rebel, and the 
 stoutest that ever was of his name." 
 
 Some assert that O'Neill would not have returned 
 to the north till May, if it had not been for the death 
 of Maguire, which " caused a giddiness of spirits and 
 a depression of mind in O'Neill, and the Irish chiefs 
 in general." Maguire is styled the "bulwark of valor
 
 SIR GEORGE CAREW. 323 
 
 and prowess," a shield, a protector, a tower of strength, 
 and pillar of hospitality. 
 
 O'Neill carried some of the Munster chieftains to 
 the north as hostages, and others as prisoners, and 
 committed Fitzgibbon, the White Knight some of 
 whose treacherous dealings had been exposed by the 
 Sugan Earl of Desmond to the keeping of Redmond 
 Burke, who put him in hand-locks, and carried him 
 through the country, making him lackie it by his 
 horse's side, like a common horseboy. "After this," as 
 the White Knight, who betrayed the Sugan Earl, 
 said, "it might be well believed I had small cause to 
 doe favours to James Fitz-Thoraas." 
 
 A new Lord President came to Munster this year 
 the astute and Machiavellian Sir George Carew who 
 knew bow to take advantage of these feuds among 
 Irish lords and chieftains. We shall let this English 
 knight speak for himself. 
 
 " Now the president discerning this war in Munster 
 to be like a monster with many heads, or a servant 
 that must obey divers masters, did think thus that 
 if the heads themselves might be set at variance, they 
 would prove the most fit instruments to ruin one 
 another. The two chief heads were the Sugan Earl (for 
 so they called Desmond) commander of the provincials, 
 and Dermond O'Connor, general of the bownoghs 
 before mentioned. This Dermond O'Connor was a 
 poor man in the beginning of his fortune, and not 
 owner of two ploughlands in Conuaught, his native 
 country. His reputation grew partly by his wife, who 
 was daughter to the old Earl of Desmond, and partly 
 by his valour, being reputed one of the most valiant
 
 324 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 leaders and best commanders amongst the Irish rebels, 
 by means whereof he had now the command of fourteen 
 hundred men in his own bonnaght, and besides that, 
 might strike a great stroke with the other, being (by 
 Tyrone at his departure out of Munster) ordained 
 chief commander of them all. 
 
 " This man did the president make to deal withal, for 
 these reasons : First, because he knew the said Der- 
 mond, being a mere mercenary, and serving in Munster 
 only for pay, might be induced, by large sums of 
 money, to serve the queen as well as the rebels. 
 
 " Secondly, he had a very fit instrument whereby 
 the more easily to work him to his will, namely, his 
 wife, who being brought up some part of her time 
 amongst the English, had not only learned the lan- 
 guage, but stood reasonably well affected to the English 
 government, and likely it was, she would use all her 
 industry to advance the service, in hope that if it 
 succeeded well, it would prove a good step or ladder 
 to procure the liberty of her brother, James Fitzgerald, 
 son and heir to Gerald, Earl of Desmond, slain, (now 
 prisoner in the Tower,) and to raise his fortunes. 
 
 " Lastly it was publickly known that the Sugan Earl 
 would never do service upon the bownoghs, except he 
 might have both the title and possessions of the Earl 
 of Desmond confirmed unto him, which her majesty 
 would never condescend unto. 
 
 " Upon these grounds, in a very secret manner, he 
 provided and sent a fit agent to sound the inclination 
 of the Lady Margaret, for so was Dermond's wife named ; 
 and finding her fit to be wrought upon, the conditions 
 should be propounded, viz : that if her husband would
 
 DERMOT O'CONOR'S TREASON. 325 
 
 take Desmond prisoner, and deliver him into the hands 
 of the president, he should incontinently receive one 
 thousand pounds sterling ; and that he should have a 
 company of men in pay from the queen, and other con- 
 ditions of satisfaction to herself and her brother." 
 
 O'Conor, the general of the earl's mercenary forces, 
 agrees to the terms, and prepares to carry the plan 
 into execution, but he seeks some plausible pretence 
 for arresting the earl, without publicly breaking with 
 the party in rebellion. The pretence and proof are 
 provided by the president. James Fitz-Thomas is to 
 be accused of treachery, of having arranged with the 
 president to deliver O'Conor into his hands. The presi- 
 dent writes a letter, as if intended for the Sugan Earl, 
 which is to fall into 0' Conor's hands. Here is the 
 letter, and it is as unknightly a production as was ever 
 penned, although the editor of the Pacata Hibernia* 
 who thinks most highly of it, says (t the contents thereof 
 doe manifest the invention " of the president. 
 
 " The LORD PBESIBENX'S letter to JAMES FIXZ-THOMAS. 
 
 "Sir, your last letter I have received, and am exceedingly 
 glad to see your constant resolution of returning to subjection, and 
 to leave the rebellious courses wherein you have long persevered. 
 You may rest assured that promises shall be kept, and you shall ao 
 ^sootier bring Dermond 0' Conner to me, alive or dead, and banish 
 his bownoghs out of the country, but that you shall have your 
 demand satisfied, which I thank God I am both able and willing to 
 perform. 
 
 " Believe me, you have no better way to recover your desperate 
 estate, than by this good service which you have profferred ; and 
 therefore I cannot but commend your judgment in choosing the 
 
 The editor of the Potato, HibernM.The editor was Thomas Stafford, but 
 there is little doubt the work was altogether indicted by Sir George Carew him- 
 self, the laudations of the president uot escepted. It bears throughout the 
 impress of his mind.
 
 32 G HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 same, to redeem your former faults. And I do the rather believe 
 the performance of it by your late action touching Loghguire, 
 wherein your brother and yourself have well merited; and as I 
 promised, you shall find me so just, as no creature living shall ever 
 know that either did assent to the surrender of it. All your letters 
 I have received, as also the joint letter from your brother and 
 yourself; I pray lose no time, for delays in great actions are 
 subject to many dangers. 
 
 "Now that the queen's army is in the field, you may work your 
 determination with most security, being ready to relieve you upon 
 a day's warning ; so praying God to assist you in this meritorious 
 enterprise, I do leave you to his protection, this twenty-ninth of 
 May, 1600." 
 
 The remark, "touching Loughguire [Castle,]* where- 
 in your brother and yourself have well merited," is a 
 master-stroke, and sufficient of itself to damn the 
 earl's character and reputation as an Irishman and a 
 soldier with O'Neill, and every Irish chieftain in re- 
 bellion. The president, as we learn from his panygerist, 
 got possession of this castle by bribing one Owen 
 Grome, to whom John Fitz-Thomas, the Earl's 
 brother, had committed its care, with " threescore 
 pounds." 
 
 But let us see how O'Conor acts when he gets pos- 
 session of the president's forged letter. He requests 
 an interview with the earl, and when they meet, says, 
 u My Lord, you are in hand" arrested. " In hand ! 
 For whom, or for what?" " You have combined with 
 the English, and promised the president to deliver me, 
 either alive or dead into his hands, and for proof be- 
 hold these letters which were intercepted and brought 
 to me." 
 
 * Lmtghgwre Castle, now Lough Gur, in the Parish of Kuockany, in the 
 County Limerick, two miles and a half north of Bruff. The ruins of this castle 
 remain to this day.
 
 O'CONOR LOSES HIS HEAD. 327 
 
 The earl is thunderstruck ; 0' Conor, who is cool and 
 conscientious, must hold him in custody till he has 
 consulted O'Neill, so he sends him to Castle Lyshin, 
 to the care of his wife, Lady Margaret, and writes to 
 the president, who was lying at Limerick, to come to 
 Kilmallock, where Lady Margaret would deliver up 
 the prisoner and receive the thousand pounds. The 
 president comes in all haste, " the next morrow," (the 
 twentieth of June,) c with a thousand foot and two 
 hundred horse," but there is no Lady Margaret to meet 
 him, and no James Fitz-Thomas, or Sugan Earl, to be had 
 for a thousand pounds. The president is chap-fallen. 
 CTConor writes an awkward letter of apology, to say 
 tnat Lyshin Castle was hardly beset. There is another 
 explanation ; Lady Margaret is first-cousin to the Sugan 
 Earl, and he is "the handsomest man of his time." 
 The president is beaten this time, but he will try again. 
 
 0' Conor, for whom Munster is too hot, gets a safe 
 conduct to his own country, through the intervention 
 of his wife, who does not accompany the traitor. He 
 being now past Clanricard, and within seventeen or 
 eighteen miles of Limerick, Theobald Burke of the 
 Ships, with a company of a hundred foot in her majesty's 
 pay, meets and assails him, notwithstanding his safe 
 conduct. He flees for refuge to an old church. They 
 set fire to the church, and kill forty of his men as they 
 rush through the flames. He is taken alive, and 
 beheaded the next day. 
 
 We said the president would try again. The name 
 of John Fits-Thomas is mentioned in the account of 
 Loughguire Castle. He was brother to James Fitz- 
 Thomas, a noble youth, who offered to take his bro-
 
 328 HISTOET OF COEK. 
 
 ther's place as a prisoner in Shandon Castle. Sir 
 George Carew, employed a person named John 
 Nugent, to assassinate this young man. We must 
 not be shocked into a disbelief of this. It was part 
 of the president's policy. If the heads of the monster, 
 which he styles KEBELLION, cannot be set at variance, 
 they must be cut off, and the more quietly it is done 
 the better : 
 
 " At this time Nugent * came to make his submission 
 to the president, and to desire pardon for his faults 
 committed. Answer was made him, that, for so much 
 as his crimes and offences had been extraordinary, 
 he could not hope to be reconciled unto the state, 
 except he would deserve it by extraordinary service, 
 which, saith the president, if you shall perform, you 
 may deserve not only pardon for your faults com- 
 mitted heretofore, but also some store of crowns to 
 relieve your wants hereafter. He presently promised 
 not to be wanting in anything that lay in the power 
 of one man to accomplish, and in private, made offer 
 to the president, that, if he might be well recompensed, 
 he would ruin within a short time, either the Sugan 
 Earl, or John Fitz-Thomas, his brother. 
 
 " And indeed very likely he was both to attempt 
 and perform as much as he spake. To attempt, because 
 he was so valiant and daring, as that he did not fear 
 anything; and to execute, because by reason of his 
 many outrages before committed, the chief rebels did 
 repose great confidence in him. The president having 
 contrived a plot for James Fitz-Thomas (as is before 
 
 * Nugent. He is styled one John Nugent, sometimes servant to Sir Thomas 
 Korrii, late president of Monster. Pacata Hibernia, vol. i., p. 67.
 
 JOHN NTJGENT'S TREASON. 329 
 
 shewed) gave him in charge to undertake John, his 
 brother." * 
 
 But the matter must be arranged in this case as 
 well as in that of the elder brother so as not to excite 
 the suspicion of the party in rebellion. Here, again, 
 the Lord President displays his genius. Nugent is to 
 appear before the president and council in public, and 
 ask for protection, and to be driven with obliquy and 
 threats from their presence : 
 
 " But because the matter might be without suspi- 
 cion, upon the next morrow, the council being set, and 
 a great concourse of people assembled, Nugent reneweth 
 his suit for the continuance of his protection. 
 
 ""But the president rehearsing in public audience, a 
 catalogue of his mischievous outrages lately committed, 
 told the council that having farther inquired, and better 
 considered of man and matter, for his part he thought 
 it an action of very ill example, to receive into mercy 
 such a notorious malefactor, The council were all of 
 the same opinion, who, reviling him with many biting 
 and bitter speeches, and assuring him, that if it were 
 not for a religious regard, that was holden of the 
 queen's word, he should pay a dear price for his former 
 misdemeanor, and so, with public disgrace, was he dis- 
 missed their presence." 
 
 He goes forth with all the prestige of this abuse to 
 work his diabolical purpose. He finds his intended 
 victim at Loughguire Castle. It is just before the 
 place is betrayed . He also meets one John Coppinger 
 there, to whom he reveals his object. Coppinger seems 
 to approve. John Fitz-Thomas, John Coppinger, and 
 John Nugent ride out together, leaving the castle in
 
 330 HISTORY OF CORE:. 
 
 the care of Owen Grome. Nugent permitted the 
 young nobleman u to ride a little before him, minding 
 his back being turned to shoote him through with 
 his pistoll ; which for the purpose was well charged 
 with two bullets. The opportunity offered, the pistoll 
 bent, both heart and hand ready to do the deed," when 
 Coppinger, whose eye was on him, snatched the weapon 
 from his hand, and cried out " Treason ! " John 
 Fitz-Thomas turned about to seize the traitor. K ugent 
 rode a good horse and spurred it hard. The horse 
 stumbled, he was taken, and the next day hanged. 
 He confessed that it was his intention, after shoot- 
 ing the younger brother, to post to the camp, where 
 the elder lay, call him aside, tell him of his brother's 
 death, and " execute as much on him." 
 
 The president has failed again, but he will try a 
 third time. He consoles himself, in the interim, thus, 
 for he cannot believe he could make a mistake. 
 " This plot though it attained not fully the desired 
 success, yet it proved to be of great consequence, 
 for now was John Fitz-Thomas possessed with such 
 a jealous suspicion of every one, that he durst not 
 remain long at Loughguire, for fear of some other 
 like attempt that might be wrought against him, and 
 therefore leaving the castle in the custody of the said 
 Owen Grome (who, as before, kept it a very short 
 time) departed suddenly unto his brother's camp." 
 
 The "president is now on horse-backe in the midst 
 of his army," preying, destroying, and burning the pro- 
 perty of all rebels or suspected persons. John Burke, 
 the brother of Theobald who slew 0' Conor, desires what 
 was then styled " protection," but his conscience will
 
 FLORENCE MAC CABTHY's CAUTION. 331 
 
 not allow him to swear allegiance to the queen. Sir 
 George moves forward with his army, seizes his corn, 
 and fires one of his castles. It is enough. John and 
 his brother come " creeping upon their knees by his 
 horse's side." The president " seeing, would not see 
 them, and hearkening to another would not attend to 
 them," till some one said "the Burkes are here," when 
 he turned about and reproved them, and then granted 
 the protection they required. 
 
 Such tactics had the effect of deterring those who 
 wished well to the rebellion from taking an active part 
 in it. Among the most distinguished of these was 
 Florence Mac Carthy, who had been so lately installed 
 Mac Carthy More, by O'Neill, the arch- traitor of the 
 North. For him to hold back at such a crisis looked 
 like treachery to *' the cause." The following are 
 extracts from a letter, dated June, 1560 : 
 "A letter from JAMES FITZ-MATTBICE to FLOKENCE MAC CARTHY. 
 
 " Cousin, your letters of the fifth of this present I received the 
 eight of the same, wherein you write of your sickness, and the im- 
 pediments that causeth your soldiers to be slow in prosecuting our 
 general action. In your former letters you write and vow that 
 there hath been neither peace, truce, nor cessation confirmed be- 
 tween you and the president. I am informed by my particular 
 friends, and also by a letter (intercepted) from the president to you, 
 that some mitigation of time is limited betwixt you and them, 
 whereupon they depend your assistance to be restrained from us. 
 If this be thus, it is far contrary to that I hoped, and much beyond 
 the confidence reposed by O'Neill and myself in your vowed fidelity 
 and service to God and our action. I perceive Donell Mac Cartie 
 is raising head in disquieting your country, the redress whereof 
 consisted in your constant assistance to be bestowed." 
 
 He entreats him in the end, if his sickness be not 
 extreme, to collect his forces and meet him, or he will
 
 332 HISTORY OF COBK. 
 
 be compelled to suspect he has " some inward meaning 
 contrary to the general action." He speaks in this 
 letter of Donell Mac Cartie disquieting his country, 
 and reminds him that for the redress of such grievances 
 he must aid the party who had made him, and not 
 Donnell, the Mac Carthy More. 
 
 Florence was evidently playing a double game. 
 He was grown " more wise than honest," and if we 
 are to believe the Pacata Hibernia, " became an 
 intercessor to the president with frequent letters and 
 damnable oathes, that he was in heart and intentions 
 sincerely devoted to her majesty's service." James 
 Fitz-Thomas writes again : 
 
 " A letter from JAMES FITZ-THOMAS to FLORENCE MACCARTIE. 
 
 " My Lord, your letters I have received, and the present time 
 of service is now at hand, which by letters, nor any excuse so 
 effectual ought to be delayed; and whereas you write that you 
 intend to confer with the president and the Earl of Thomond, I 
 marvel that one of your lordship's acquaintance with their proceed- 
 ings doth not yet know their enticing baits and humours to entrap 
 us all within the nets of their policies. Your vow to God and this 
 action for the maintenance of the Church and defence of our own 
 right should not for any respect be unregarded. You know that of 
 long time your lordship hath been suitor to the Queen and Council, 
 and could not at any time prevail, nor get any likelihood of your 
 settlement ; and now being duly placed by the assent of the Church, 
 and us, the nobility of this action, your lordship should work all 
 means possible for to maintain the same. 
 
 " You know the ancient and general malice that heretofore they 
 bear to all Irish birth, and much more they rue at this present, so 
 as it is very bootless for any of us all to seek their favour or coun- 
 tenance, which are but a means to work our total subversion ; write 
 to me effectually your lordship's mind, and what resolution you 
 purpose to follow, whereby I may proceed accordingly. This army 
 is but very slender, for they are but six hundred foot and eighty
 
 THE PARLIAMENTARY EARL. 333 
 
 horse ; I am, myself and Fitz- Maurice, six hundred foot and some 
 horse. We expect your lordship's assistance, which we heartily 
 desire, and not any further to defer us with letters as you respect 
 us and the service ; and whereas you write you have no force, your 
 own presence, and the bruit of your coming, will much further the 
 service and dismay the enemy. 2 September, 1600. 
 
 " Your loving cousin, 
 
 " JAMES DESMOND." 
 
 Some means must be devised to put down this war- 
 like earl. The president has no desire to meet him in 
 the field. A new thought strikes him, to bring over 
 to Ireland James Fitzgerald, the Parliamentary Earl, 
 whp^had been sixteen years a prisoner in England. As 
 he' was the only son of Garrett, the sixteenth earl, the 
 president concluded that the followers of the Sugan 
 Earl would at once desert him on the appearance of 
 James in Ireland. The expected landing of the earl 
 was therefore publicly announced and bruited abroad, 
 but as his arrival was delayed longer than the presi- 
 dent supposed, he resorted to the trick of dressing up 
 a servant in the livery and armorial bearings of the 
 family, and of sending him through the country to 
 attract the gaze of the public and set them talking. 
 
 Elizabeth, the English queen, was slow in liberating 
 any of her state prisoners, but when she consented she 
 sent him with a safe keeper, though for such caution 
 there was little need, as the young man was as docile, 
 tractable, and harmless as one of those monkeys which 
 Italian boys lead through the streets of London with 
 a string, and looked, we have no doubt, withered 
 and old before his time, although every care had been 
 taken to adorn him with coat, cap, and feathers.
 
 334 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 He arrived at Youghal on the fourteenth of October, 
 where we find, from the chronicles of the day, "He 
 had like to have been overthrown with the kisses of 
 the old calleaks," or hags. From Youghal he pro- 
 ceeded directly to Mallow, where the president waited 
 to receive him, for to him was committed the power of 
 regulating all his movements, or, if need-be, of cur- 
 tailing his liberty. In a letter from her majesty, 
 Elizabeth K., to the lord president, signed by " Ro. 
 Cecil," we read these words : " Know this from us, 
 that we shall never disallow it, if you, in your discre- 
 tion, find it necessarie at any time that you doe abridge 
 him of any libertie or any favour now afforded him." 
 
 After remaining long enough in Mallow to learn his 
 lesson from the president, he was forwarded, under 
 the charge of the Archbishop of Cashel, to Kil- 
 mallock. Nothing could surpass the hearty welcome 
 which the Irish the tenants and followers of the 
 old earl gave the young man as he entered this 
 fine old town. The windows and tops of the houses 
 were crowded with spectators, .who showered down 
 corn and salt upon his head as a token of welcome and 
 prosperity. 
 
 This state of feeling lasted just twenty-four hours, 
 for the next day, when returning with the Archbishop 
 of Cashel from the Protestant Church, both he and the 
 archbishop were hooted, cursed, spit upon, and bespat- 
 tered with mud. The editor of the Pacata Hibernia 
 says, " the young earl came to Kilmallock upon a 
 Saturday, in the evening, and by the way, and at their 
 entry into the town, there was a mighty concourse of 
 people, insomuch that all the streets, doores, and win-
 
 PARLIAMENTARY EARL AT KILMALLOCK. 335 
 
 dowes, yea the very gutters and tops of the houses 
 were so filled by them, as if they came to see him 
 whom God had sent to bee that comfort and delight 
 their souls and hearts most desired, and they welcomed 
 him with all the expressions and signs of joy, every 
 one throwing upon him wheat and salt, an ancient 
 ceremony used in that province upon the election of 
 their new majors and officers, as a prediction of future 
 peace and plenty. The next day being Sunday, the 
 earl went to church, and all the way the people used 
 loud and rude exhortations to keepe him from church. 
 After service, the earl coming forth, was railed at and 
 spet upon." 
 
 "There could be no mistaking these signs of the times, 
 or the meaning of the vox populi ; so the president, 
 without much delay, put the hood on this poor hawk 
 and sent it back to the queen, who immured it a 
 second time in the Tower, where it died in a few 
 months some say from poison more likely from im- 
 prisonment. 
 
 The Sugan Earl is at length driven, like his uncle, to 
 the shelter of the woods and wild glens. He is accom- 
 panied by a harper Dermot O'Dugan, of Ballyduff 
 whose music cheers the solitude of the lonely caves to 
 which he flees for shelter. The president offers a liberal 
 reward to any one who will take him dead or alive. 
 Lord Barry undertakes to run him down with a hun- 
 dred soldiers. The earl and his friend are surprised in 
 a wood and surrounded. The harper takes the earl's 
 cloak, and, with the " lapwing's policie" breaks cover. 
 A hundred soldiers, with a " Hark away !" are at his 
 heels. He escapes into Fitzgibbon's or the White
 
 336 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Knight's country, Lord Barry, who hates the White 
 Knight as the White Knight does the earl, charges 
 him, in a letter to the Lord President, with harbouring 
 the arch-traitor. A falser charge was never made. The 
 White Knight could never forget it was Fitz-Thomas 
 who exposed his double-dealing to O'Neill, who deli- 
 vered him to Eedmond Burke, from whom he had lately 
 purchased his liberty. The president sends for Fitz- 
 gibbon, " and rebukes him with sharp words and bitter 
 reprehensions" for his negligence in " so important a 
 business." He returns home bemoaning his hard fate. 
 * One of his followers, who " loved him dearly," com- 
 passionating his perplexity, said, " Follow me and I 
 will bring you to where he is." Fitzgibbon followed 
 to the cave of the Grey Sheep, above the glen of Aher- 
 low, in the mountains of Slieve Grot in Tipperary. 
 " It had a narrow mouth, yet deepe in the ground." 
 
 Fitzgibbon, who was accompanied by Eedmond 
 Burke and six or seven of his own followers, advanced 
 to the mouth of the cave and called out, "James Fitz- 
 Thomas, come out and render yourself a prisoner" The 
 earl came to the mouth of the cave and called on Eed- 
 mond Burke to seize Fitzgibbon ; but " the wheel of 
 his fortune being turned," they pointed their swords 
 on himself, and his only companion, a foster-brother. 
 The earl was disarmed, bound, and carried prisoner to 
 Kilmallock, from Kilmallock to Shandon Castle, Cork, 
 where the president, Sir George Carew, resided, and 
 from Cork to the Tower of London, where he died, and 
 lies buried with his cousin the Parliamentary Earl.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 FLORENCE MAC CAETHY JOHN ANNIAS SIE GEORGE CAREW. 
 
 A.D. 16001601. 
 
 THE Lord President found in Florence Mac Carthy 
 whom he called "a Michavellian ambodexter" an" 
 antagonist worthy of his genius in state craft. England, 
 ever true to the divide et impera policy, had sent him 
 back to Ireland, after detaining him in England for 
 eleven years,* in order to pit him against Donnell, 
 the illegitimate son of the late Mac Carthy More, j" 
 who had usurped the title and laid claim to the estates. 
 Florence understood all this. The whole arrange- 
 ment is thus simply stated : " Thou mayest be pleased 
 therefore to understand, gentle reader, that the rebels 
 of Munster being grown to such an exceeding strength, 
 as you have heard ; and amongst these, Donnell Mac 
 Carthy, Florence's base brother-in-law, one of the chief, 
 her majesty thought good to diminish their forces with 
 sparing as much blood, and expending as little treasure 
 as conveniently might be, and, therefore, knowing that 
 Florence Mac Cartie was better beloved in the country 
 than Donnell, having made many solemn vows, and 
 
 * Eleven years. Florence was arrested by Sir Thomas Norris, the 4th of June, 
 1588, and was dispatched into Ireland in the month of May, 1599. He spent 
 three out of the eleven years in the Tower. Pac. Ilib., p. 303. 
 t The late Mac Carthy More died in 1596. 
 23
 
 338 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 taken many voluntary oaths for his continued loyalty, 
 was dispatched into Ireland in the month of May, 
 1599, and to the end he might be the more encouraged, 
 and better enabled 'to do her highnesses service, it 
 pleased her majesty to direct her favorable letters to 
 Robert Earl of Essex, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 
 authorising him to give orders for letters patent to be 
 made, containing an effectual grant to the said Florence 
 Mac Cartie, and Ellen his wife, and to the heirs male 
 of their bodies, lawfully begotten, of all the country of 
 Desmond, and such other lands, whereof he had any 
 estate of inheritance ; but withall authorising the said 
 Lerd Lieutenant and Council to stay those letters patent 
 in the haniper* w deliver them, according as they should 
 see cause, in the proof they should make of the beha- 
 viour of the said Florence." 
 
 Florence Mac Carthy remained some time in Cork 
 after his return to Ireland, and here one John Annias 
 was employed as a spy upon all his actions. It appears 
 from his examination that he was introduced to Flo- 
 rence, in Cork, as an engineer. Let us turn to 
 
 " The Examination of John Annias, taken before Sir 
 Nicholas Walsh and Justice Comer ford, the 13th 
 of October, 1600: 
 
 " He saith that in May last Florence Mac Cartie 
 gent one Maur [More] to him, wishing him to repair to 
 his lodgings at Cork, and that Florence was desirous 
 to be acquainted with him ; whereupon he came to 
 
 Haniper, or hanaper was originally a basket of " twyggys " for holding 
 state papers or deeds of any kind. The Illustrated London News, for December 
 1, 1860, contains drawings of an ancient skippet, or turned box, used for this 
 purpose in the reign of Edward III., and a hamper or hanaper of the succeeding 
 reign, lately discovered at Westminster.
 
 JOHN ANNIAS. 339 
 
 Florence, and in Florence's chamber, lie the said Flo- 
 rence (and none other but they two being present) 
 said that he understood that this examinate was an 
 engineer, and one that had skill in devising and erect- 
 ing of fortifications, and that he would willingly em- 
 ploy him in the like. Annias demanding of Florence 
 what or where he would have his works raised ? He 
 answered at Dunkerran,* wherein he might upon any 
 occasion of extremity defend himself and James Fitz- 
 Thomas against the English, and also wherein he might 
 give succour to such Spaniards as should come to their 
 aid." 
 
 This John Annias, who had been living for some 
 time in Spain, was arrested in 1594, along with 
 Patrick Cullen, a fencer, on the grave charge of having 
 come to England to murder the queen. Cullen was 
 hanged, and Annias offered to expiate his faults by 
 doing her majesty good service. The nature of the 
 service we learn from a letter addressed by him, when 
 in the Tower, to the Privy Council, bearing date 1594. 
 We do not give the whole letter. 
 
 " To the Lords of Her Majesty's Hotwrable Privy Council. 
 " To make amends for my faults past, behold, my lords, I am 
 content to venture my life to do God and her majesty great service, 
 and worthy to be commended, which is to discover, plainly, all 
 those in England which should take part with the Spanish king 
 against her majesty, by these reasons following : 
 
 " All the king's business, either secret or known, passes the 
 ecretary's hands ; and for his discharge, as also the king to know 
 how his money and business goes, all is registered in a bookfa brief 
 
 * Dunkerran. It should be Dunderrow. Dunderrow is a parish, partly in 
 the county of the city of Cork and partly in the baronies of Kinsale and Kinnalea. 
 The mound or fort where Mac Carthy proposed to erect " his works " is now 
 nearly removed.
 
 310 HISTORY OF CORK, 
 
 notation of all business, which book remains always in the office, 
 called the scritoria, at the left-hand, going into the court of the 
 secretary's house ; another register book answerable to the same is- 
 at Madrid. The key of this office the under-secretary keeps at Brus- 
 sels ; he is called Diego Geffrey, a Spaniard, and one that I am very 
 well acquainted with. 
 
 "All Englishmen in England, either nobleman or gentleman* 
 whatsoever estate he may be, what number of men he is able to 
 make use of, and what money he hath received, or bestowed 
 either upon his children or kinsmen at Rome, Rheims, Douay, or 
 Louvain, and of what place or province in England, or if he be alive 
 or dead, or put to death for persecution, as they name it so, and all 
 those who pay tribute to the queen, and what satisfaction the king 
 makes them therefor, the day and year. Behold, my lords, all is 
 noted in these register books. 
 
 " I have seen with my eyes Holt, and Gordon the Scot, very 
 often after secret conferences with the secretary then confer in the 
 scritoria office, with these register books, either to write down 
 more names converted to them or cross out such as be dead or put 
 to death. Seeing I know this to be true, and that I have been well 
 acquainted with these offices, I shall undertake and venture my one 
 life to make amends for my faults to win credit, I shall, by God's 
 help, without fail, bring this book to your honors' hands with all 
 diligence." 
 
 He then goes on to state how he will accomplish his 
 object. 
 
 " I will make acquaintance with the scritoria office, and cast an 
 eye where the register book lies, in what place ; then I shall have 
 a handful of dough about me, and clap the key of the office door 
 fast in the dough, that the print remain still, and cause a key to be 
 made of the same, taking leave of his excellency beforehand, and 
 providing a rope, double the height of the wall, that I might draw 
 the rope back again to myself. 
 
 " I will provide a supper for a dozen persons, gentlewomen, 
 music, and this under-secretary invited beforehand; about seven 
 o'clock I will open this office, with a black lantern under my cloak, 
 and find out this register book, then come back to entertain the 
 company, and after every man has gone to his rest and lodging I
 
 JOHN ANNIAS. 341 
 
 will take the ready way over the walls with the rope provided, and 
 go all night either the way to Liege, to Flushing in Zealand, or to 
 Calais. And thus I undertake to bring this book with me, and 
 without doubt I shall bring it to pass. 
 
 He says in this letter that the cause of his faults 
 was u a certain opinion of religion" he had been a 
 Catholic u but having perused the bible now a year, 
 he is fully satisfied and reformed." In proof of his 
 reformation and genius in picking locks and scaling 
 walls, he adds " I have discovered to Mr. Lieutenant 
 [of the Tower] how I might escape and go unknown to 
 my keeper very easily." He complains of being a 
 prisoner two years, of his great misery " noe clodes at 
 all, excepte towe shurtes Mr. Lyftenant " gave him. 
 Whether he was employed by the honorable privy 
 council to go to Spain and steal the book in which the 
 Spanish secretary kept the names of those who were 
 disaffected to her majesty, we cannot say, but there 
 can be no doubt that he got new clothes before he 
 came to Munster, where we find him doing a stroke of 
 business with Sir George Carew, knight, who sends 
 him with a letter to Sir Robert Cecil, and speaks of 
 him as Mr. Annias who is returning to England, to 
 furnish himself with some necessaries : 
 
 " 1600, April 30. CAREW to CECIL, 
 
 " Sir, this bearer, Mr. Annias, is returned into England to furnish 
 himself with some necessaries which he wants. I have conferred 
 with him and do like his projects ; he promises to return presently, 
 which I beseech you to expedite. And eo referring my larger dis- 
 courses to the dispatch now I have in hand, I do humbly rest, 
 
 " Your honour's most bounden, 
 
 " Shandon Castle, " GEOEGE CAEEWE. 
 
 " This 30 of April, 1600."
 
 312 
 
 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 What the necessaries were for which he had to go 
 to England we cannot say. Carew makes a mystery 
 of it. Those who knew Carew, and his arrangements 
 with Nugent to assassinate John Fitz-Thomas, might 
 whisper poison. Something that would be slow and 
 sure. There was no licensed apothecary in Cork, 
 none, at least, that Carew would trust to poison his 
 enemy. The president when sick, and in want of a 
 doctor, writes to the queen, from Cork, Sept. 29, 1602, 
 " Ireland is destitute of learned men of English birth ; 
 and with Irish physicians * knowing the good will they 
 leare me if they were learned, I DARE NOT VENTURE." 
 
 The report was abroad, that Carew and Cecil had 
 engaged John Annias to poison Florence. Cecil, of 
 course, repudiates the charge, and writes to Carew to 
 hang Annias at once. Dead men tell no tales. It 
 would appear that " the wicked and horrible wretch, 
 Annias, had given out the vile untruth " of both presi- 
 dent and secretary : 
 
 " 1600, Oct. 15. CECIL to CAREW. 
 
 " It remaineth now that I may say something to you concerning 
 Annias, who hath never deceived me, for I hold him a villian. 
 First, the Lord God doth know it, my soul never had the thought 
 to consent to the poisoning of a dog much less of a man. True it 
 is, if to take a rebel alive, or to bring their head, I was contented 
 to hear his promise, though for my own part I never believed him, 
 I do therefore pray you, and conjure you, by all the love you bear 
 me, to find the means to take him, and seeing he hath otherwise 
 offendel the law ; be assured of this from me, that it must be his 
 hanging and public confession must clear us from this odious im- 
 
 * Irish physicians. There were the O'CuIlinans, the hereditary physicians of 
 the Kings of Desmond or Cork. It was a saying in Irish, when a person was 
 despaired of, " an O'Cullinan could not cure him." Doctor Callanan, of Cork, 
 is a descendant of these celebrated Irish physicians.
 
 JOHN ANNIAS. 343 
 
 putation. Remember, sir, what I write, I pray you, and think of 
 it, for there is no other way to clear it. And know this from me, 
 that when you have him, if you keep him long alive, he will escape 
 from you by one means or another ; send him not out therefore, nor 
 spare his life, for then it will be thought, whatsoever he sayeth to 
 clear us, that it is to save his neck. 
 
 " London, 15 Oct., 1600." 
 
 The hanging of Annias, even with a <{ publique 
 confessyon," could never " clere " such men as Cecil 
 and Carew of the " odious ymputacon." It looks too 
 like murdering a man whose evidence might be damag- 
 ing. It has a dark and suspicious appearance, to say 
 the least. Cecil writes again three weeks after : 
 A***" 
 
 " 1600, November 8. CECIL to CAREW. 
 
 " I expect daily, to understand, what you have done with that 
 wicked and horrible wretch Annias, who hath given out (as it 
 seemeth) so vile an untruth of you and me concerning Florence, of 
 which I protest to the Lord I never entertained the thought. I 
 trust, therefore, you will come by him by one means or another, 
 that he may pay the ransom of such a villainy." 
 
 The Lord President was as anxious to catch the 
 traducer of his fair fame as the secretary. Annias was 
 arrested two days before Cecil wrote his first letter, 
 and, we conclude, saved his life by giving evidence 
 against Florence Mac Carthy. Cecil's first letter is 
 dated the 15th of October, 1600, and the examination 
 of John Annias seems to have taken place before Sir 
 Nicholas Walsh and Justice Comerford, and is dated 
 the 13th of October, 1600, 
 
 After giving this evidence against Florence, he was, 
 we conclude, cast off by both parties. He turns up 
 after this in a most pitiable plight, " poorelie arraied
 
 844 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 and barefotted," wandering as a vagrant about Cork 7 
 when he is arrested by the mayor, who may have 
 heard of the particular interest which Cecil took in 
 him. The following is the mayor's letter : 
 
 " 1601, March 6. JOHN MEADE, Mayor of Cork, to CECIL. 
 
 " I am bold to advertise your honour, lately restrained in the 
 Tower, was found upon the walls of this city, poorely arraied, bare- 
 fotted, and altogether disguised from his wonted attire; who, being 
 brought before me, I examined his name, and he said his name was 
 John Magues ; whom I did know by eyeing him narrowly, and 
 committed him to the gaol, where he is to remain till he has his 
 trial by law, and with whose apprehension I have acquainted the 
 Lord President, for which he was very thankful. Your honour 
 hath received notice, heretofore, of his behaviour since his last 
 departure from thence, wherefore, I think it unnecessary to repeat 
 the particulars. 
 
 How he escapes from the hands of both mayor and 
 secretary on this occasion, without hanging, is a mys- 
 tery ; but escape he did. Perhaps he broke prison.* 
 "We find him in the June of 1602 writing to Father 
 Dominick Collins respecting the defence of Donboy 
 Castle, which was then besieged by Sir George Carew. 
 
 "A letter from JOHN ANNIAS to DOMINICK COLLINS, Jesuit at 
 
 Donboy. 
 
 " Be careful of your fortifying, continually, with a most special 
 care, raise in height the west side of your port, fill your chambers 
 on the south and north sides with hides and earth, what battery is 
 made suddenly repair it like valiant soldiers, make plain in the 
 south side the remnant of the broken houses, make ways out of the 
 hall to shower and cast stones upon the port, and if the enemy 
 would attempt the like, dig deep that place we first began, and a 
 trench above to defend the same, as T have said unto you. Although 
 we expect speedy relief out of Spain, yet be you wise to preserve 
 
 * Broke prison. To escape from Cork prisons was very common, as we may 
 tare occasion to shew by and bye.
 
 JOHN ANNIAS. 345 
 
 the store of victuals discreetly. Devise yourselves all the invention 
 possible to hold out this siege, which is the greatest honour in this 
 kingdom. With the next I shall prepare shoes for you. Send me 
 the cord or long line, and the rest of the saltpetre, with all the iron 
 barriers, seven pieces in all. Salute in my name Richard Mac 
 Gaghegane, praying God to have of his special grace that care of 
 your success. 
 
 " From the camp, the June, 1602. 
 
 " Your loving Cousin, 
 
 " JOHN ANNIAS. 
 " To Father Dominlck, 
 " Beerhaven, these." 
 
 The following letter was written the night before his 
 execution : 
 
 "A letter from JOH^ ANNIAS to the BARON OF LIXNAW, a little 
 before his execution. 
 
 " In trust is treason. So Wingfield betrayed me. My death 
 satisfies former suspicions, and gives occasion hereafter to remember 
 me ; and as ever I aspire to immortalize my name upon the earth so 
 I would request you, by virtue of that ardent affection I had to- 
 wards you in my life, you would honour my death, in making 
 mention of my name in the register of your country. Let not my 
 servant, Cormack, want, as a faithful servant unto me. Let my 
 funeral, and the service of the Catholic Church be observed for the 
 soul. Here I send you the pass and letter of that faithless Wing- 
 field, having charged the bearer upon his duty to God to deliver 
 this into your hands. O' Sullivan was strange to me, but inures 
 himself to want me. Commend me to Captain Tirrell, O'Connor* 
 your sister, and Gerode Oge. This the night before my execution, 
 the eight day of November, 1602, and upon this sudden I cannot 
 write largely. 
 
 " Your loving bed-fellow sometimes, 
 
 " ISMABITO." 
 
 He speaks in this letter of former suspicions. What 
 were these ? Had they reference to the report of his
 
 346 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 having been employed to poison Florence Mac Carthy ? 
 If so, he thinks his death should " satisfy '' such sus- 
 picions, and cause him to be remembered. The style 
 and tone of the letter is not that of a thoroughly 
 debased and bad man. His desire to immortalise his 
 name, and to have it mentioned in the registry of his 
 country; his love for his friend, expressed in his 
 dying hour ; and his care of his faithful servant, are 
 not the marks of one totally depraved. It is possible 
 after all, perhaps probable, that he never contemplated 
 the poisoning of Florence ; but that his great enmity 
 to Cecil and Carew caused him to give out (as yt 
 semeth) " so vyle an untrewth." Let us be just and 
 charitable to them all, to the secretary and president, 
 as well as to Annias. Whatever was his crime, it did 
 not justify Wingfield's entrapping him by a "false 
 passe and letter." In those days there was too much 
 truth in the words " in trust is treason" 
 
 That portion of Annias' examination before Sir 
 Nicholas Walsh and Justice Comerford, which treats of 
 Mac Carthy's proposed works at Dunderrow, near 
 Kinsale, must have been very damaging to the newly 
 liberated chieftain. Two of the principal charges 
 brought against him by Sir Thomas Norris, when 
 arresting him in 1588, was his love of Spaniards, and 
 of the Old Head of Kinsale. 
 
 But he managed, notwithstanding what Annias said, 
 and all that was suspected, to get back to Desmond, 
 and was shortly after, as we have seen, installed as 
 Mac Carthy More, not by the queen, or her lord deputy, 
 but by O'Neill. On this occasion he was " sworne on 
 a Masse booke, to be true to Tirone." This must have
 
 FLORENCE 3IAC CARTHY IN DESMOND. 347 
 
 been wormwood and gall to the English ministers, an 
 upsetting of their favorite maxim " Sapens nisi 
 serpentem comederit non sit araco," Unless the ser- 
 pent eat the serpent, there can be no dragon. As 
 they desired, Florence has destroyed Donnell, so they 
 have " the great serpent," or dragon, but not a dragon 
 to guard golden apples for the queen, but one prepared 
 to raise his crest against her sacred majesty. 
 
 " Whereby the indifferent reader may perceive with 
 what prepared hatred, and prepensed malice this gal- 
 lant was affected, even in this first scene of his devil- 
 lish tragedie ; that there might bee no indecorum, his 
 subsequent proceedings were in all poynts correspon- 
 dent to these timely beginnings ; for having now left 
 Corke, and gotten footing in his (supposed) countrey 
 of Desmond, hee wrote severall letters to the gentle- 
 men neere adjoyning, namely the Sulevan, Mac 
 Finnin, the two Odonoghs, and others, to assemble at 
 a time and place appoynted, to create him Mac Cartie 
 More ; and whosoever he was that refused to come, he 
 persecuted as his mortall enemie." Pac. Hib. 
 
 Some of his people attack and kill some of the queen's 
 forces under the command of Captain Flower, a few 
 miles from Cork. The president demands an explana- 
 tion. He writes a letter " stuffed with damnable oaths 
 and execrable blasphemies, "in which hedenies allknow- 
 ledge of the slaughter. He has even the audacity to go 
 to Cork and see the president, who gives him his confi- 
 dence, and informs him he is starting on an expedition 
 to the west, which Mac Carthy at once communicates 
 to James Fitz-Thomas, who prepares to meet him. The 
 president discovered this treachery by James Fitz-
 
 348 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Thomas' intercepted reply, which began thus : " My 
 good lord and cousin, your letters of the 18th of May 
 I received the 25th of the same, wherein you relate 
 the manner of your proceedings with the president in 
 Cork, and also his determination towards the west of 
 my county. I, thank God, have prevented that which 
 he expected." 
 
 Mac Carthy was generally very cautious in his mode 
 of correspondence. We give the following letter as a 
 specimen of the apparent dash united with great cau- 
 tion. He knew he was writing to a scoundrel. It 
 is addressed to the White Knight, who betrayed the 
 Earl of Desmond : 
 
 "A letter from FLORENCE to the WHITE KNIGHT. 
 " Damnation, I cannot but commend me heartily unto you, as 
 bad as thou art, and do also most heartily commend me to your two 
 sons. I would be very glad to speak with you for your good ; and 
 because I cannot speak with you myself, yet I would have you in 
 anywise credit your daughter, Mistress Mac Donough, concerning 
 me, and to believe from me whom she sends, or what she sends you 
 word of by a trusty messenger. I would have you to determine 
 about Pierce Oge ; and that I may speak with you, I mean about 
 Gortnetoberd of Tullylease, send word to Pierce and Dermond of the 
 day with him, and send me word and I will come without all fail. 
 In the meantime I leave you to God. Palace, this seven and twen- 
 tieth of August, 1600. 
 
 " Your assured loving Friend, 
 
 " FLORENCE MAC CARTIE." 
 
 This letter was shewn by the White Knight to the 
 Lord President. Fitzgibbon explained that the mes- 
 sage sent him through his daughter, Mac Donogh's 
 wife, was a reproof for his submission to the queen. We 
 are not surprised that the president, knowing all these
 
 FLORENCE MAC CAfcTHY's TREASON. 349 
 
 things, was anxious that he should visit Cork again. 
 He sends for him. Florence is within a few days to 
 meet the Governor of Kerry. The Governor of Kerry, 
 Sir Charles Wilmot, sends for him. Mac Carthy is 
 " shortly to repair to the president; and so deluding 
 both he would come to neither." To use his, Sir 
 George's, own illustration, when trying to entrap the 
 Earl of Desmond this halyard or hawk was not to be 
 taken by such lime-twigs. He was as cunning, and as 
 much on his guard, and as hard to unearth as the 
 oldest fox in Desmond he therefore resolves to catch 
 his cub. 
 
 ^The president not holding himselfe sufficiently 
 assured of Florence with his two pledges, his base 
 brother and kinsman, still importuned the bringing of 
 his eldest sonne, according to his promise upon his 
 first protection ; hee having no pretext for his longer 
 stay, sent to Owen Mac Teg Mergagh in Desmond to 
 carry his said sonne to Corke, there to bee left as a 
 pledge for him ; within a few dayes after this message 
 sent, Florence receiving advertisement from Tyrone, 
 of certaine Spaniards landed in the North, and hearing 
 continuall rumors of Northern forces, to infest the 
 province, dispatched a messenger to the said Owen 
 Mac Teg Mergagh to make stay of his sonne for a 
 longer time, viz.: untill hee might perceive what 
 would bee the issue of those preparations ; but before 
 the messenger could come, the said Owen was with 
 the child upon his way, and come to Corke before the 
 said messenger overtook him, but had not as yet deli- 
 vered the child out of his owne custody ; wherefore 
 receiving this countermand, hee secretly conveyed the
 
 350 HISTORY OF CORK:. 
 
 child out of the citie, and returned with him againe 
 into Desmond, where he was kept as before, untill 
 Florence had seene that there was neither Irish nor 
 Spaniards appeared to his aide, succour and comfort." 
 Pac. Hil. 
 
 There can be no doubt that Florence MacCarthy 
 was deeply compromised in the Spanish landing at 
 Kinsale, although he was arrested and safely lodged in 
 the tower before the arrival of Don Juan de Aquila. 
 
 They employed Donough Mac Cormac to write the 
 following letter to Philip, King of Spain, not that he 
 required an amanuensis,* but he remembered, written 
 words remain. Donough Mac Cormac was under the 
 same impression, for he got Thomas Shelton to copy 
 what he indited for another. But notwithstanding all 
 this caution, this, and other letters fell into the hands 
 of Sir George Carew. 
 
 " A letter from DONOGHE MAC COEMOCK, in the name of FLORENCE, 
 
 to the KING OF SPAIN. 
 
 " Having received direction from the Earl of Clan -Care,f I would 
 not omit this opportunity ; at the departure of the Archbishop of 
 Dublin,| and Don Martin de La Cerda, to make knowen to your 
 
 * Not that lie required an amanuensis. Doctor 0' Donovan, speaking of 
 Florence Mac Carthy's letter on Irish antiquities, written in the Tower, says, 
 " The letter throughout is distinct, without a blot, and exhibits only two erasures. 
 What minute characters the hand of such a giant could form, and with what 
 certainty and precision it could trace, line after line, in faultless parallels, and 
 with intervals so minute that there seems upon the page but a sharp, slender 
 thread of white around each word, may be judged from the fact, that three pages 
 and twenty one lines of a sheet, foolscap size, sufficed to contain the whole of this 
 long letter to the Earl of Thomond. See Kilkenny Archaeological Journal, new 
 cries, vol. i , p.p. 203-229 
 
 f Earl of Clancare. This was false of Donough Mac Cormack. He concludes 
 that thp title of Earl of Clancare would sound better in the king's ears than that 
 f Mac Carthy More. 
 
 \ The Archbishop of Dublin had a hand in this letter, for Shelton writes to 
 Florence "by direction of the Lord Archbishop of Dublin, and at the request of 
 Mac Donogh, your agent here, I did write a letter, addressed to the King of Spain, 
 tubscribed by him."
 
 351 
 
 majestie, how the said earle hath written to your majestie by two 
 or three wayes ; but understanding that these letters came not to 
 your royall hands, hee hath now againe written by me to your 
 majestie, making offer as well of his person and lands as of his 
 vassals and subjects to your royall service; humbly beseeching 
 your majestie to receiue favour, and aide him with your power and 
 liberall hand, seeing there is no other that can and will assist 
 us better against these heretikes in this holy enterprise. From 
 Donegall, the fift of January, 1601. 
 
 " Your majesties loyal vassall to kisse your royall hands, 
 
 " DONOGHE CABTIE." 
 
 The next is a letter from the Archbishop to Mac 
 Carthy : 
 
 **A letter from the SPANISH AECHBISHOP OF DUBLIN to FLOKENCB 
 MAC CARTIB. 
 
 " Right Honourable Lord, God is my witnesse, that after my 
 arivall in Ireland, having knowledge of your lordships valour and 
 learning, I had an extreame desire to see, communicate, and con- 
 ferre with so principall a personage ; but the danger of the way 
 would not permitt mee. I am now departing into Spaine, with 
 grief that I haue not visited those parts; but I hope shortly to 
 returne into this kingdome, and into those parts to your satisfaction; 
 and be assured, that I will performe with his majestie the office 
 that a brother ought to doe, that he should send from Spaine. 
 Because by letter I cannot speake any more, I leaue the rest untill 
 sight. The Lord haue your lordship in his keeping according to 
 n.y desire. From Donegall, the sixteenth of January, 1601. 
 
 " Yo MATEO AK<?OBISPO DE DUBLIN." 
 
 Hugh O'Donnell also writes Mac Carthy in his own 
 dashing and soldier-lilt e style " Our commendations to 
 you, Mac Cartie. We have received the letter you 
 sent the 14th of October, and we swear by our word 
 that you are no less grieved that you see us not, than 
 we ourselves." He concludes, " you shall receive
 
 352 HISTORY OP CORK. 
 
 news of what Spaniards came to these parts by John 
 Fitz-Thomas and Donogh Mac Cormack." 
 
 Florence was also in correspondence with Dermot 
 Mac Carthy. Indeed, this Dermot, who was his kins- 
 man, acted as a sort of agent, or ambassador in Spain, 
 where he had resided some years. He writes to 
 Florence in March, 1600, wishing him joy of his return 
 to Cork, after his eleven years detention in England ; 
 he advises him to write to Philip, and say what force 
 he will be able to raise in Ireland, what towns or 
 castles he can place at his majesty's disposal ; and to 
 say if Cork could be surprised. He hopes the King of 
 Spain will send an army to Ireland in spring. He tells 
 Florence to send his letters through Don Diego Bro- 
 chero, a great favourer of the Irish nation, and in great 
 credit with the King. 
 
 O'Neill also writes to Florence, Feb. 6th., 1600, and 
 exhorts him to serve valiantly against the Pagan beast. 
 "We cannot say whether Hugh intended this compliment 
 for the queen or the English church. 
 
 We are told by Stafford though we don't believe 
 it that Mac Carthy 's wife told Sir Charles Wilmot, 
 that " her husband's heart was malicious to the state ; 
 and that " Shilie," or Shelah, the wife of O'Sullivan 
 More, and sister to Florence " exclaimed upon her 
 brother as the cause of her husband's imprisonment." 
 This was natural enough. 
 
 The president and' secretary had no occasion to de- 
 scend to such gossip in order to justify the arrest of 
 Florence. Florence was a sincere rebel, who loved 
 his country and religion and hated everything English, 
 the Lord President, therefore, resolved to put him out
 
 SECOND COMMITTAL OF FLORENCE. 353 
 
 of the way before the arrival of the Spaniards, so he 
 sends a strong force to storm his stronghold at Pallis, 
 and bring him a prisoner to Cork. 
 
 Here he is committed to the care of Sir Anthony 
 Cooke, who carries him and James Fitz-Maurice who 
 are described as the two firebrands of Munster to 
 London. Arrived at London, they are brought before 
 the council, who send them to the Tower. Here Flo- 
 rence lay till the 9th of July, 1614, when the Earls 
 of Thomond and Clanricard, Sir Patrick Barnewell, 
 Lord Delvin, Sir Eandulph Mac Donnell, Sir Donnell 
 O'Brien, Dermot MacCarthy, and David Condon united 
 with him in a bond of 5,000 for permission to leave 
 the tower, but not to depart out of the realm ef England, 
 or to travel one day's journey from the city of London 
 without license, under the hand of six of Her Majesty's 
 Privy Council. How long he lived, or when he died, 
 we as yet have no reliable data. A petition from his 
 son, dated 1631, speaks of his father as still under 
 restraint. 
 
 James Fitz-Thomas, the last Earl of Desmond, died 
 in the Tower in 1603. His brother, John, went to 
 Spain the same year, where he bore the title of Conde 
 de Desmond. He died at Barcelona, leaving one son. 
 
 M
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE SPANIARDS AT KINSALE. 
 A.D. 1601. 
 
 THE Lord President of Minister received the first 
 official intimation of the sailing of the Spanish fleet, 
 which arrived at Kinsale, by a letter from the secretary 
 Cecil, dated from ' the court at Windsore, this 
 twelfth of August, 1601." It begins thus : 
 
 " Sir George Carew, on Wednesday last, certain pinnaces of her 
 majesties met with a fleete of Spaniards, to the number of fiftie 
 saile, whereof seventeene are men of warre, the rest are transport- 
 ing ships, as by this note inclosed doth appeare, which my intelli- 
 gencer sent me at their going out. These ships cannot be but for 
 Ireland, from which coast the storme kept them, unlesse it should 
 be said that the king will land them in the Low Countries, which 
 I will never beleeve hee durst adventure, knowing how long wee 
 have expected them, and have fourteene good ships out, which, if 
 you compare with the note inclosed of his, you shall find that wee 
 might be ashamed to suffer his fleete to land so quietly, and our 
 fleete in the taile of them. 
 
 " But (which is more certaine) to confirme my opinion ever for 
 Irelande, this proportion is fit for Ireland ; there it may work mis- 
 chief; and besides that they which met them, saw them set their 
 course from the Sleeue (where tney were on Wednesday) just for 
 Ireland, and (as I verily thinke) they will fall for Limerick ; for in 
 Spaine it was advertised me, that their rendezvous was for the 
 Blaskys, which you know is on that coast, about the Dingle or the 
 Ventry."
 
 THE SPANISH FLEET. 355 
 
 The " note enclosed " from Cecil's private agent, or 
 Intelligencer, is dated from Lisbon, the 25th of July, 
 1601, nearly a month before Cecil wrote Carew. It 
 contains no name, but the agent is thoroughly acquainted 
 with the subject on which he writes. John Annias 
 could not be more definite : 
 
 " Here at Lisbon, there are stayed about two hundred sailes of 
 ships, out of which number Jive and fortie onely are selected for 
 transportation of souldiers. 
 
 "The number of souldiers are sixe thousande,* whereof three 
 thousand are kept aboard the ships, lest they should runne away, 
 the other three thousand are a comming from Andaluzia and those 
 parts, in a fleete of ships and gallies, under the conduct of the 
 Adelantados sonne unto Lisbon. 
 
 '*The ships which carie the souldiers are of the burthen of one 
 hundred, one hundred and fiftie, and not above two hundred tons. 
 The Spaniards doe refuse greater ships of the East Countries, which 
 are stayed at Lisbon, and make choise of the smallest vessels they 
 have for their purpose. 
 
 '* Of their five and fortie sails of ships, seventeene saile onely 
 are fitted for men of warre, whereof eleaven of them are but small 
 ships, the other sixe are gallions, the Saint Paul, the Saint Peter, 
 the Saint Andrew, and three smaller gallions of the king's, whose 
 names I know not. 
 
 " For the manning of their ships, fifteene hundred sailors were 
 sent hither out of Biskay. 
 
 " The Marquess of S. ta Croce goeth admirall in the Saint Paul, 
 Sibiero, alias Seriago, vice-admirall, in the Saint Peter. They 
 make account to bee ready by the last of July, and ride with their, 
 yards acrosse. 
 
 " The two ships of Dunkerke (which have remained long at 
 Lisbon) doe make ready to come away with the fleete." 
 
 Cecil sends Carew a private note lest the provincials 
 should betray him. There was no man in wide Munster 
 
 * The number of souldiers are sixe thousand. Three thousand was about the 
 number that came to Kinsale with Don Juan de Aquila. Another thousand may 
 have landed at Baltimore and Castlehaven.
 
 356 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 who more thoroughly appreciated the maxim, " take 
 care of yourself," than Sir George. But we give the 
 note ; for friendship and personal kindness among men 
 in high places, are like green spots and sheltered nooks 
 among the cliffs of high mountains, the heads of which 
 are covered with snow. 
 
 " My deere George, now will I omit all the petty particulars of 
 many things, because the great storme (which I presume is fallen 
 upon Mounster) drownes all my petty cares, and wounds my soule 
 for care of you, of whom I know not what to expect, but as a lost 
 childe, for though I know you are not so mad as to runne to the 
 enemies mouthes, with a dozen persons in comparison, yet I am 
 desperately affraid that the provincials should betray you ; even 
 those I meane that must or will seeme to be principally about 
 you, &c." 
 
 A Captain Love arrived in Cork harbour, and sent 
 the president a letter, dated the 13th of September, 
 stating that he had seen five-and-forty sail at sea, on 
 the north of Cape Finesterre, bearing north, he therefore 
 conjectured that Ireland was their destination. Every 
 one was in daily expectation of the Spanish fleet, some 
 fearing and more desiring it. When a strange sail 
 appeared above the horizon, " It is a Spanish ship ! " 
 If accompanied by a second, " It is the 
 
 But the real Spanish fleet came at last, on the 20th 
 of September, "towards night." The sovereign of 
 Kinsale sent a messenger to inform Sir Charles Wilmot, 
 who was in Cork, that a fleet of five-and-forty ships were 
 observed from the Old Head of Kinsale; that they 
 had passed the mouth of the river, and were bearing 
 up for Cork harbour. The information was correct ; 
 the Spaniards were preparing to enter the Cove, when
 
 THE SPANIARDS IN KINSALE. 357 
 
 the wind " suddanely scorted, whereupon they tacked 
 about, and made for Kinsale." 
 
 There was no army in Kinsale able to oppose 
 their landing;* the force consisted of fifty foot and 
 forty horse, which departed for Cork, <4 the better 
 sort of persons going with them, with all their goods. 7 ' 
 The Spaniards marched with five-and-twenty colors 
 towards the town. The gates were thrown open, 
 and the sovereign, with his white rod, went about 
 billeting them upon the inhabitants. Stafford says, 
 the people were more ready to receive them "than if 
 they had beene the queene's forces." To encourage 
 them in such good conduct, to banish fear, and " win 
 their lve by gentle and mild usage," Don Juan de 
 Aquila, the Spanish general, who appears to have 
 been a man of singular politeness, made the following 
 proclamation : 
 
 *' A Proclamation made m Kintale by DON JUAN DE AQUILA, 
 
 give contentment to the inhabitants of Kinsale. 
 " We, Don Juan de Aquila, general of the armie to Philip, 
 Kinge of Spaine, by these presents doe promise that all the inha- 
 bitants of the towne of Kinsale shall receive no injury by any of 
 our retinew, but rather shall be used as our brethren and friends, 
 and that it shall bee lawful for any of the inhabitants that list to 
 transport, without any molestation in body or goods, and as muek 
 as shaU remaine, likewise without any hurt. 
 
 " DON JUAN IDE 
 
 The whole Spanish force consisted of about three 
 thousand men, under the command of Don Juan de 
 Aquila, Maestro del Campo General ; Don Francisco 
 
 To oppote their landing. u Captain William Saxey's company lay then in gar- 
 lison, but because the town was of small strength, unable to withstand so powerful 
 an nemy, order was given to Sir Charles Wilmot, [by the Lord President, we 
 oocludej that they should quit the same, and retreat to Cork." foe. Hib., p. 337.
 
 358 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 de Padilla, Maestro del Campo ; Antonis Centono, 
 Maestro del Campo, and forty-two Captaines, besides 
 other officers. 
 
 Don Juan describes the town as a "place contayning 
 not above two hundred houses, on the side of a river, 
 invironed with hills, and without any kind of defence. 
 There is in the middle of the haven a certain, almost an 
 island, on the which it seemeth good to Don Juan to 
 have a fort made." The " Old Fort," as it is styled, 
 remains to the present day. 
 
 " As soon as Don Juan had lodged himself, he dis- 
 patched messengers to the Earles Tyrone and O'Donnell, 
 advising them of his arrival. The naturals [natives] 
 of the country report the forces of the earles * to be 
 much less than was given out to us." The queen's 
 people and forces had carried away all the cattle and 
 corn of the district, and broken down the mills. All 
 the Spaniards could get was " a few cowes from the 
 poore peple, who are glad to sell." English troopers 
 come every day to the walls, to see what the Spaniards 
 are about. The Spaniards, having no cavalry, must 
 submit to the indignity. A skirmish occurs near the 
 castle of Rincurran, which is in the possession of the 
 Spaniards ; some were hurt, but none slain. 
 
 The new Lord Deputy Mountjoy, Sir George Carew, 
 the Earl of Ormond, Sir Richard Wingfield (marshal 
 of the army), and Sir Robert Gardiner (the Chief 
 Justice) were in Kilkenny holding a council as to what 
 they should do, if the Spaniards arrived, when Sir 
 Charles Wilmot's letters announced the arrival. They 
 
 * The earles. We conclude that O'Donnell, as well as Tyrone, was styled an 
 earl.
 
 MOUtfTJOY AND CAREW BEFORE KINSALE. 359 
 
 are taken by surprise. Some propose they should 
 hasten to Dublin to collect a sufficient force. The 
 president, if we can believe Stafford, says to the deputy, 
 "No, rather go to Cork or Kinsale with your page, 
 than turn your back on the enemy." This looks more 
 like Mountjoy than Carew. But let it be the latter. 
 The deputy then asks, what about supplies ? The pre- 
 sident has provided the supplies. The deputy is so 
 overjoyed that he rises from his chair and takes the 
 president in his arms. That very day the Lord Deputy, 
 the president, and Sir Robert Gardiner leave Kilkenny, 
 for Cork. They stop the first night at Lord Dunboyne's, 
 the-aext at Clonmel, the next with Lord Roche, and 
 the following day they are in Cork. 
 
 And, "now are we come," exclaims Sir George, 
 " to the siege of Kinsale, a place ordained, wherein 
 the honor and safety of Queen Elizabeth, the reputation 
 of the English nation, the cause of religion, and the 
 crown of Ireland must be by arms disputed." 
 
 The Spaniards were in want of horses. They had 
 brought sixteen hundred saddles, " hoping," as they 
 had been promised, " to find horses in Ireland." The 
 imprisonment of Florence Mac Carthy had disarranged 
 everything, and struck terror into the hearts of most 
 of the subordinate chieftains of Munster. In this 
 emergency, Don Juan and Brother Matthew, the 
 Spanish Archbishop of Dublin, write to Tyrone and 
 O'Donnell to hasten their coming. 
 
 " A letter from the ARCHBISHOP of DUBLIN unto TYRONE and 
 
 O'DONNELL. 
 
 " Pervenimus in Kinsale, cum classe & exercitu, Regis nostri 
 Philippi; expectamus vestras excellentias qualibet kora, veniaut
 
 360 HISTORY OF CORE:, 
 
 ergo quam velociter potuerint, portantes equos, quibus maxime 
 indigemus, & jam alia via scripsimus, non dico plura valete. 
 
 " FBATEB MATHETTS ABCHIEPISCOPTJS DUBLINENS." 
 
 The letter of Don Juan, in its noble brevity, is 
 worthy of Julius Caesar. 
 
 " A qui estamos guardando a veustras Senorias illustrissimus 
 Como largamente otra via hemos escritos. A Dios 12. Oct. 1601. 
 
 " DON JTJAN DE AQTTILA. 
 " Excellentissimis Dominis 
 
 " Don O'Neale and O'Donnell." 
 
 Don Juan, " Commander in God's War," makes a 
 proclamation to all the Irish Catholics in Kinsale, 
 Cork, and other villages and cities, in which he ex- 
 plains that they owe no subjection to Queen Elizabeth, 
 who has been deprived of her kingdom, and her sub- 
 jects absolved from their fidelity, by the Pope. But 
 this has not the desired effect, for Cormac Mac Carthy, 
 Lord of Muskerry, and his people, unite with the 
 deputy against the strangers. The Irish are marched 
 up to the very trenches, that the Spaniards may see the 
 side they have taken. They even come to blows with 
 the foreigners, and are found to strike hard and home. 
 The Spaniards make a foray on the " island, as it 
 seemed," the tongue of land in the mouth of the 
 harbour and carry off three hundred cows and a 
 number of sheep, which they bring to Castle Park. 
 Captain Taaffe* pursues the party, and retakes a portion 
 of the prey beneath the walls of Castle Park. 
 
 The castle of Eincurran, which lies outside the town, 
 is in the hands of the Spaniards. It is besieged by the 
 
 * Captain Taaffe was the grandfather of Theobald, Lord Taaffe, the commander 
 of the Irish army at the hattle of Knockninoss.
 
 SIEGE OF RINCTJRBAN CASTLE. 361 
 
 Lord Deputy. Don Juan sends a party of five hundred 
 men from the town to its relief. A sharp skirmish 
 occurs, in which the Spaniards are beaten back and a 
 commander taken prisoner ; Lord Audley, Sir Oliver 
 St. John,* and Sir Garrett Barry are wounded. The 
 officer in command of the castle sounds a drum, and 
 asks for permission to parley. It is granted by Carew. 
 " There came with their drum an Irishman, borne in 
 Corke, who prayed, in the name of the rest, that they 
 might be permitted to leave the castle, arms, bag and 
 baggage, and enter Kinsale." They are refused. They 
 send a drum with a Serjeant, and after the Serjeant a 
 commander, who insists on leaving the castle with 
 their arms. They are refused, and the battery again 
 begins to play with "furie," when another drum is 
 sent, and the place delivered up. Dermot Mac Carthy, 
 or Don Dermutio, the Spanish agent of Florence Mac 
 Carthy, was the only Irishman taken prisoner on this 
 occasion. The commander was allowed to wear his 
 sword on leaving the castle, and to deliver it into 
 the hand of the Lord President, which he did " upon 
 his knees." The prisoners were brought into the 
 English camp, and then sent on to Cork. Sir George 
 received the following letter of thanks from the queen, 
 the 31st of October, 1601 : 
 
 " HEB MAJESTY'S letter unto the Lo. PBESIDENT. 
 " My faithfull George, if ever more service of worth were per- 
 formed in shorter space than you have done wee are deceived ; 
 among many eye-witnesses wee have received the fruit thereof, and 
 bid you faithfully credit, that what so witt, courage, or care may 
 doe, wee truely finde they have beene all truely acted in all your 
 
 * Oliver St. John, who became Lord President of Minister, wai thi grand- 
 ncle of the celebrated Lord Bolinghroke.
 
 362 HISTORY OP CORK. 
 
 charge, and for the same beleeve that it shall neither bee unre- 
 membered nor unrewarded; and in the mean while beleeve my 
 helpe nor prayers shall never faile you. 
 
 " Your soveraigne that best regards you, 
 
 " ELIZ. R." 
 
 Intelligence was at this time communicated that 
 O'Donnell was on his march to the relief of Kinsale. 
 The Lord President is dispatched, much against his will, 
 with a force of about three thousand men, two thirds of 
 whom were Irish, to intercept the northern chieftain. 
 O'Donnell managed to give the president the slip, near 
 Holy Cross, in the county of Tipperary, although they 
 lay one night within four miles of each other ; but the 
 country, as Stafford or Sir George says, " stood so 
 partially effected to the traitors, as by no promise of 
 reward or other satisfaction could they be induced to 
 draw any drought upon them," or get any information 
 of O'Donnell's movements from them. 
 
 It would appear from the examination of Dermot 
 Mac Carthy, or Don Dermutio, who was made prisoner 
 at the siege of Eincurran Castle, that the president was 
 in danger of being arrested and delivered into the 
 hands of Don Juan, by Cormac Mac Dermot, Lord of 
 Muskerry, and his captains and followers, who com- 
 posed a large portion of the army. Sir George says, 
 but it is after Don Dermutio's examination, " I ate 
 with him, and many times had private conference 
 with him, not seeming to take notice of any of his 
 treacherous ways." Sir George gave himself credit 
 for great shrewdness and penetration. But it is quite 
 possible that Florence's Spanish agent may have
 
 O'DOXNELL AND THE MUNSTER CHIEFTAINS. 363 
 
 spread this report, in order to spite the Lord of Mus- 
 kerry, who joined the queen's party. 
 
 O'Donnell, who made, without rest, " the greatest 
 march with cariage that hath beene heard of" above 
 thirty-two Irish miles passed through Muskerry to 
 Castlehaven, where six Spanish vessels with troops and 
 great store of ordnance and munition had arrived. 
 O'Neill came to the south about the same time, and en- 
 camped at no great distance from the English lines. These 
 arrivals gave great confidence to the Irish chieftains, the 
 most of whom gave up their castles to be garrisoned by 
 Spanish troops : 
 
 " Untill this time none of the provincials of Mounster, that had 
 beene either protected or pardoned, relapsed ; but now upon the 
 comming of these seconds to Castlehaven, Sir Finnin O'Drischall 
 and all the O'Drischalls, Sir Owen MacCartie's sonnes, and almost 
 all the Carties in Carbrie, Donnell O'Sulevan Beare, O'Sulevans 
 More's eldest son, Donnell Mac Cartie, the Earle of Clan-Care's 
 base sonne, with all the Carties of Desmond, John O'Conner Kerry, 
 the Knight of Kerry, all the protected and pardoned men in Kerry 
 and Desmond, and all else from Kinsale and Limericke westwards, 
 joyned with O 'Donnell and the Spaniards ; whereat Kttle wonder is 
 to bee made, considering what power religion and gold hath in the 
 hearts of men, both which the Spaniards brought with them into 
 Ireland. Donach O'Drischall delivered unto them his castle at 
 Castlehaven, which commanded the harbour; Sir Finnin O'Dris- 
 chall (who never in the course of his whole life had beene tainted 
 with the least spot of disloyaltie) rendred unto them his castle of 
 Donneshed at Baltimore, and his castle of Donnelong, in the island 
 of Inisherkan, betwene which castles all entrances into that haven 
 was debarred; and Donnell O'Sulevan surrendered unto them his 
 strong castle of Dunboy, which absolutely commands Bearehaven ; 
 these three harbours being without all exception che best in the 
 west of Mounster."
 
 364: HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 The royal appointments, pay, and presents of Philip, 
 King of Spain, had a very powerful effect upon our 
 Irish chieftains, and reminded them of their Spanish 
 descent. "Blood is thicker than water." Let us 
 hear O'Sullivan Beare on this subject : 
 
 " A letter from DONNELL O'STTLETAN BEARE unto the KING OF 
 SPAIN. 
 
 " It hath beene ever, most mighty and renowned prince, and 
 moat gracious Catholike king, from time to time, manifestly proved 
 by daily experience among us, the Irish, that there is nothing work- 
 eth more forcibly in our hearts, to winne, and to draw our love and 
 affection, than naturall inclination to our progeny and ofspring, 
 and the memoriall of the friendship, which sticketh still in our 
 minds ; chiefely the same being renewed, cherished, and kept in 
 us by mutuall affection, and by showing like friendship to us also ; 
 wee, the mere Irish, long sithence deriving our roote and originall 
 from the famous and most noble race of the Spaniards, viz., from 
 Milecius, sonne to Bile, sonne to Breogwin, and from Lwighe, sonr.e 
 to Lythy, sonne to Breogwin, by the testimony of our old ancient 
 bookes of antiquities, our petigrees, our histories, and our cronicles. 
 
 " Though there were no other matter, wee came not as naturall 
 branches of the famous tree, whereof we grew, but beare a hearty 
 love and a naturall affection, and intire inclination of our hearts 
 and minds, to our ancient most loving kinsfolkes, and the most 
 noble race whereof wee descended. 
 
 " Besides this, my soveraigne, such is the abundance of your 
 goodnesse, and the bounty or greatnesse of your liberality, now 
 every way undeserved of our parts, as tokens of love and affection by 
 your majestic shewed unto us, that it is not fit nor seemely for us 
 but to bestow our persons, our men, and our goods in the service 
 of a prince that dealeth so gratiously with us, that sendeth forces 
 of men, great treasure, victuals and munition for our aide, against 
 our enemies, that seek to overwhelme and extinguish the Catholike 
 faith diabolically, put to death our chieftaines tyrrannously, covet- 
 ing our lands and livings unlawfully. 
 
 " For the foresaid considerations, and for many other commend- 
 able causes me moving, I bequeath, and offer in humblenesse of 
 mind, and with all my heart, my owne person with all my forces,
 
 THE BESIEGERS BESIEGED. 365 
 
 perpetually to serve your majestie, not only in Ireland, but in any 
 other place where it shall please your highnesse ; I commit also 
 my wife, my children, my manners, townes, countrey, and lands, 
 and my haven of Dunboy, called Biara-haven (next under God) to 
 the protection, keeping, and defence or commericke of your ma- 
 jestie, to be and remaine in your hands, and at your disposition. 
 
 " Also at your pleasure bee it (my liege Lord) to send defence 
 and strong keeping of the haven of Dunboy, first for yourselfe (my 
 soveraigne) to receive your ships, and for mee also as your loving 
 servant, so that the Queene of England's ships may not possesse 
 the same before you, while I follow the warres in your highnesse 
 behalfe. I pray Almighty God to give your majestie long life, 
 health of body and soule, with increase of grace and prosperity. 
 So I betake you to the keeping of God. 
 
 " From the campe neere Kinsale, the nine and twentieth of 
 December, 1601, Stilo Novo. 
 
 " Your most dutifull loving servant, 
 
 " DONNELL O'SULEYAN BEAKE." 
 
 O'Neill showed himself on a hill about a mile and a 
 half from the English camp, where he had " a fastness 
 of wood and water." The English were now between 
 two fires the besiegers were besieged. During the 
 day the Tyrone horse hovered round their camp ; at 
 night the Spaniards made sorties upon their entrench- 
 ments. Although their artillery played upon the 
 town, they " had no meaning to make a breach." 
 This was the state of things when Don Juan pressed 
 the Irish general to attack the English camp, and 
 throw provisions into Kinsale: 
 
 " The Irish reduced the English to great straits, for they did 
 not permit hay, corn, or water, straw or fuel, to be taken into the 
 Lord Justice's camp. They remained thus for some time, watching 
 each other, until Don Juan, the general of the Spaniards, sent a 
 letter privately to the Irish, requesting them to attack a part of the 
 Lord Justice's camp n a certain night, and (adding) that he
 
 366 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 himself would attack the other part of it on the same night; for 
 they (the Spaniards) were reduced to great straits by the English, 
 as the English were distressed by the Irish. 
 
 " The chiefs of the Kinel-Connell began to deliberate in council 
 on this suggestion, and they were for some time dissentient on 
 adopting this resolution, for it was O'Neill's advice not to attack 
 them immediately by any means, but to keep them still in the strait 
 in which they were, until they should perish of famine,* and the 
 want of all the necessaries of which they stood in need, as some of 
 their men and horses had already perished. O'Donnell, however, 
 was oppressed at heart, and ashamed to hear the complaint and 
 distress of the Spaniards without relieving them from the difficulty 
 in which they were, even if his death or destruction, or the loss of 
 his people, should result from it ; so that the resolution they finally 
 agreed to was, to attack the Lord Justice's camp, as they had been 
 ordered." 
 
 It was finally decided to attack the English camp at 
 night, or at least before break of day. The Irish might 
 have succeeded in surprising the Lord Deputy, but 
 there was a man in that camp that could not be sur- 
 prised. He, or his panegyrist, gives all the credit of 
 the information to a bottle of aqua-vitae. 
 
 Tuesday, the 22nd of December, Brian Hugh Oge 
 Mac Mahon, " a principal commander in the Irish 
 army," whose eldest son had been a page to the Lord 
 President, sent a boy to Captain Taaffe, praying the 
 Lord President to let him have a bottle of aqua-vitee. 
 The president, u for old acquaintance," could not refuse 
 this modest request. 
 
 The next night, the 23rd of December, the same 
 messenger brought a letter, thanking Sir George for 
 
 * Perish of famine. " If Tyrone had laine still, and not suffered himself to be 
 drawn to the plaine ground by the Spaniards' importunity, all our horse must 
 needs have been sent away or starved." Morysoris Hist, of Ireland, Book ii., c. ii.
 
 THE BAITLE OF KINSALE. 367 
 
 the whiskey, aud telling him to stand on his guard ; 
 that he, M ac Mahon, was at the rebel council, where it 
 was resolved the next night to attack the English 
 camp, and that the Spaniards were also in readiness to 
 sally from the town. 
 
 The Lord President posts off to the Lord Deputy 
 and receives his instructions. We feel assured that 
 Sir George slept none the next night. The night is 
 far gone when a horseman rides up and says, " My 
 lord, its time to arm, the enemy is near the camp." 
 
 But Sir George does not arm ; he has singular 
 ability of keeping out of danger. He remains behind 
 to watch the Spaniards. Mountjoy takes the field, and 
 points to a piece of ground where the Irish must force 
 a passage, saying to the marshal, " Here I am resolved 
 to give the enemie battaile." 
 
 Tyrone approaches at the head of his troops, hoping 
 to take the English by surprise, and finds them at the 
 ford, prepared, in all the panoply of war, to dispute the 
 passage. He retires before them, which is not his 
 wont the Four Masters say, in order to unite his 
 forces with those of O'Donnell, whose troops had lost 
 their way in the dark the deputy gives the order to 
 follow. The marshal, seeing the enemy in some dis- 
 order, asks permission to charge. The Irish horse, 
 that are posted on the side of a bog, stand firm. The 
 Earl of Clanricard and Sir Eichard Greame advance 
 and charge with a thousand foot, but cannot break 
 the Irish ranks. Sir William Godolphin rides up with 
 the Lord Deputy's horse, Captain iviynshall with the 
 Lord President's horse, and Sir John Barkley with 
 two or three companies of foot ; they unite their forces,
 
 368 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 and again charge, and carry all before them. The Irish 
 are broken, scattered, and slain. 
 
 Captain Tirrell, the friend of O'Neill, was in com- 
 mand of the seven hundred Spaniards that had landed 
 at Castlehaven ; this division of the enemy was also 
 broken, slain, or taken prisoners. The Lord Deputy's 
 soldiers pursued the skipping kerne and heavy-armed 
 galloglasses for two miles, and returned to the camp 
 when they were " tyred with killing." The Irish 
 generals left twelve hundred dead on the field, besides 
 eight hundred wounded, many of whom died that 
 night. 
 
 If we can believe Stafford or Carew, and no one 
 could be better informed than Sir George, there was 
 no one slain on the English side but Sir Eichard 
 Greames' cornet. Sir Henry Davers was hurt with 
 the sword slightly; Sir William Godolphin, a little 
 razed on the thigh with a halbert ; and Captain Crofts, 
 the scout master, with a shot in the back. Not 
 above five or six of the common soldiers hurt. The 
 Earl of Clanricard had " many faire escapes, being 
 sliot through his garments; and no man did bloody 
 his sword more than his lordship that day. He gave 
 no quarter, and commanded his soldiers to kill the 
 rebels." For these daring deeds he received, at the 
 hands of the Lord Deputy Mountjoy, the order of 
 knighthood " in the midst of the dead bodies," and 
 there they gave God thanks for their victory, and 
 discharged a volley of shot. 
 
 Don Juan, who is on the qui-vive, and the very tiptoe 
 of expectation, hears the volley, and concluding it is 
 the Irish marching victorious on Kinsale, dashes out
 
 DON JUAN CAPITULATES. 369 
 
 to meet them. He sees the Spanish colors carried in 
 triumph by English soldiers, and makes a hasty retreat 
 into the town. 
 
 Stafford concludes his account by rehearsing a pro- 
 phecy in which this battle was predicted. Lord 
 Thomond had read it in an " olde Irish booke of 
 prophesies," containing the Irish name, and date of 
 the battle. " 1 deliver," says Stafford, " nothing but 
 trueth," and as " one swallow makes no summer, so 
 shall not this one true prophesy increase my credulitie 
 in predictions of that kinde." 
 
 After this defeat Don Juan de Aquila was desperate, 
 but this did not justify the black treachery with which 
 he acted towards his Irish friends, who had lost all in 
 their hasty and over-anxious zeal to relieve him. 
 
 One week after the battle, on the 31st of December, 
 Don Juan sent a message to the deputy, and asked 
 permission to parley. Like Sir George Carew, he 
 could use his tongue and pen better than the sword. 
 Sir William Godolphin is sent to his camp, whom he 
 addresses in the following style : 
 
 " I have found in your viceroy a sharp and powerful 
 opponent, yet an honorable enemy ; in the Irish, not 
 only weak and barbarous, but (as I feared) perfidious 
 friends. I am so far in my affection reconciled to the 
 one and distasted to the other, that I invite you to an 
 overture which will be profitable to the state of Eng- 
 land, and little prejudicial to the crown of Spain." 
 
 The overture was, to deliver up Kinsale, and all 
 other places the very castles which the Irish chief- 
 tains had put into his hands on condition of his 
 being allowed to depart on honorable terms, with 
 
 26
 
 370 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 all the necessary appliances of transports for his 
 army. 
 
 The deputy agrees, provided the Spanish general 
 will leave his treasure, munition, and artillery behind, 
 as an acknowledgment of his having been vanquished. 
 Don Juan is most indignant ; he refuses peremptorily ; 
 such a proposition touches his honor ; not a hoof must 
 be left behind in Kinsale ; he would rather endure 
 the utmost misery, than be guilty of so foul a treason 
 against his prince, and so great a dishonor to his pro- 
 fession. Should such a thing be even mentioned again 
 let the deputy resume the sword. 
 
 After these heroics, the Don descends from his high 
 horse, and reminds the viceroy that he gets Castle- 
 haven, Bearehaven, and other places, " bettered by 
 his art and industry, and provided with victuals, mu- 
 nition, and good artillery, all furnished by Spain." He 
 thinks the deputy would get these things cheap, though 
 he paid two hundred thousand ducats for them. 
 
 So thought the deputy, he therefore resolved, with- 
 out further parley, to accept the conditions. The 
 following is a copy of the article of composition : 
 
 " The Articles of Composition betweene the LORD 
 DEPUTIE and COHNCELL, and DON JUAN DE 
 AQUILA. 
 
 MOTJNTJOY. 
 
 " In the Towne of Kinsale, in the Kingdome of Ire- 
 land, (the second day of the moneth of January, 
 1602,) betweene the Noble Lords the Lord Mount- 
 joy, Lord Deputie, and Generall in the Kingdome 
 of Ireland, and Don Juan de Aquila, Captaine and
 
 ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION. 371 
 
 Camp-master General, and Governour of the Armie 
 of his Majestic the King of Spaine, the said Lord 
 Deputie being encamped, and besieging the said 
 towne and the said Don Juan within it, for just 
 respects, and to avoyd shedding of blood, these 
 Conditions following were made betweene the 
 said Lords Generalls, and their Campes, with the 
 Articles that follow : 
 
 u First That the said Don Juan de Aquila shall 
 quit the places which hee holds in this kingdoms, as 
 well of the Towne of Kinsale, as those which are held 
 by the souldiers under his command, in Castlehaven, 
 Baltimore, and the Castle of Beere-haven, and other 
 parts, to the said Lord Deputie, or to whom he shall 
 appoynt, giving him safe transportation (and sufficient) 
 for the said people, of ships and victualls, with the 
 which the said Don Juan with them may go for Spaine, 
 if he can at one time, if not in two shippings. 
 
 " Item That the souldiers at this present being 
 under the command of Don Juan in this kingdome, 
 shall not beare armes against her Majestic the Queene 
 of England, wheresoever supplyes shall come from 
 Spaine, till the said souldiers be unshipped in some of 
 the Ports of Spaine, being dispatched (as soone as may 
 be) by the Lord Deputy, as he promiseth upon his 
 faith and honour. 
 
 " Item For the accomplishing whereof, the Lord 
 Deputie oftereth to giue free passport to the said Don 
 Juan and his army, as well Spaniards as other nations 
 whatsoever, that are under his command, and that hee 
 may depart with all the things hee hath, armes, muni- 
 tions, money, ensignes displayed, artillery, and other
 
 372 HISTORY OF COBS!. 
 
 whatsoever provisions* of warre, and any kind of stuffe, 
 as well that which is in Castlehaven, as Kinsale and 
 other parts. 
 
 " Item That they shall haue ships and victuals r 
 sufficient for their money, according and at the prices 
 which here they use to giue, that all the people and 
 the said things, may bee shipped (if it be possible) at 
 one time, if not at two, and that to bee within the 
 time aboue named. 
 
 " Item That if by contrary winds, or by any other 
 occasions, there shall arriue at any Port of these king- 
 domes of Ireland, or England, any ships of these (in 
 which the said men goe) they bee intreated as friends, 
 and may ride safely in the harbour, and bee victualled 
 for their money, and haue moreover things which they 
 shall need, to furnish them to their voyage. 
 
 " Item During the time that they shall stay for 
 shipping, victuals shall be given to Don Juan's people 
 at just and reasonable rates. 
 
 " Item That of both parts shall be cessation of 
 armes, and security that no wrong be offered any one. 
 
 " Item That the ships (in which they shall goe for 
 Spaine) may passe safely, by any other ships whatso- 
 ever, of her Majesties the Queene of England; and so 
 shall they of the said Queene, and her subjects by 
 those that shall goe from hence, and the said ships 
 being arrived in Spaine, shall returne assoone as they 
 haue unshipped their men, without any impediment 
 given them by his majestic, or any other person in his 
 
 * Provisions. The following were the rations of each soldier : Every week 
 four days flesh, three days fish. Every flesh day bread, twenty-four ounces; 
 beef, six ounces. Every fish day bread, twenty-four ounces, and one ounce of 
 butter. For every hundred men, one pipe of wine. Pacata Hibernia, p. 443.
 
 ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION. 373 
 
 name, but rather they shall shew them favour, and 
 helpe them (if they need anything ;) and for security 
 of this, they shall giue into the Lord Deputies hands* 
 three captaines such as hee shall choose. 
 
 " For the securitie of the performance of the articles, 
 Don Juan offereth that he will confirme, and sweare to 
 accomplish this agreement : and likewise some of the 
 captaines of his charge shall sweare and confirme the 
 same in a severall writing. 
 
 " Item That hee in person shall abide in this king- 
 dome, where the Lord Deputie shall appoynt, (till the 
 last shipping) upon his lordship's word: and if it 
 happen that his people be shipped all at once, the said 
 Don Juan shall goe in the same fleet, without any 
 impediment given him : but rather the Lord Deputy 
 shall giue a good ship, in which hee may goe ; and if 
 his said men be sent in two shippings, then he shall 
 goe in the last. 
 
 " And in like sort the said Lord Deputie shall sweare 
 and confirme, and giue his word in the behalfe of her 
 Jklajestie the Queene and his owne, to keepe and ac- 
 complish this agreement, and joyntly the Lord Presi- 
 dent, the Lo. Marshall of the Campe, and the other of 
 the Councell of State, and the Earles of Thomond and 
 Clanricard, shall sweare and confirme the same in a 
 severall writing. 
 
 " I doe promise and sweare to accomplish and keepe 
 these articles of agreement, and promise the same 
 likewise on the behalf of his Majestie Catholique, 
 the King my Master. 
 
 " DON JUAN DB AQUILA.
 
 374 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 This document is also signed by " GEORGE CAREW, 
 THOMOND, CLANRICARD, KICHARD WINGFIELD, EGBERT 
 GARDINER, GEORGE BOTJRCHIER, and EICHARD LEVISON." 
 
 These articles having been duly executed, the 
 Spaniards were shipped off with despatch. " Haste 
 was made for their embarking at two sundry times." 
 There were shipped at Kinsale, under the care of Cap- 
 tain Francis Slingsbye, 2,070 ; at Baltimore and Castle - 
 haven, under the care of Captain Harvey, 415 ; from 
 other places, 540 making a total of 3,025 ; " besides 
 captains, inferior officers, priests, religious men, and a 
 great company of Irish."
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 DON JTTAN IN CORK. 
 A.D. 1602. 
 
 DON JUAN having made all the necessary arrangements 
 fqr- the embarkation of his troops, went with the 
 Deputy and the Lord President to Cork. The Lord 
 Deputy lodged in the Bishop of Cork's house,* Don 
 Juan in the city, and the President at Shandon Castle. 
 
 It is the 10th of February. Don Juan is busy 
 making preparations to embark, when the president 
 hears that a Spanish pinnace has arrived in some 
 western port, with letters from the King of Spain to 
 the Spanish general. Sir George Carew posts off to 
 the bishop's house to the deputy, and asks him if he 
 has a desire to know the nature of the correspondence. 
 It may be commanding Don Juan to remain. Mountjoy 
 says his heart is itching to have the letters in his 
 hands, and prays the Lord President to intercept them, 
 if he can " handsomely doe it." 
 
 It is just one of those things which Sir George can 
 do handsomely. He sends for Captain Nuce, and tells 
 him to select a few trusty men, to deck them out like 
 
 * Bishop of Cork's Jwusc. William Lyon was at this time Bishop of Cork, 
 Cloyne, and Koss, lie was appointed iu 1583.
 
 376 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 bandits, and rob the messenger of letters, money, and 
 even horses, and leave him and his guide bound in 
 some wood. Captain Nuce meets the Spaniard within 
 five miles of Cork, and does his business to perfection. 
 He brought the packet to the president at Shandon 
 Castle, the day Don Juan is dining there. The 
 Spanish messenger, who has been unbound by some 
 friendly hand, gains the city that evening, and tells 
 Don Juan that he has been robbed of his despatches 
 by soldiers in the guise of bandits. The Spanish 
 general goes to the deputy, grievously complaining 
 that his messenger has been robbed by soldiers. The 
 deputy is very sorry; a debaucht souldiers " is a com- 
 mon thing in every army, but he suspects it was done 
 by country thieves, that they might shew the letters 
 to their friends in rebellion. Don Juan is by no means 
 satisfied with this reply, and requests the deputy to 
 inquire of Sir George, of whom he has " a vehement 
 suspicion." The Lord Deputy answers, "Upon his 
 fayth, he was sure the president had them not ; which 
 hee might well doe, for they were in his owne posses- 
 sion." In order to satisfy the Don, Mountjoy pub- 
 lished a proclamation, and offered a reward to any one 
 who could discover the thieves, promising to spare the 
 lives of those who committed the theft, on their coming 
 forward, and making a full confession. 
 
 The letters were of so grave and important a cha- 
 racter, and so explicit as it regarded Philip's determi- 
 nation to conquer Ireland, that we doubt, if Don Juan 
 would have ventured to embark his forces in the face 
 of them. The first is from the Duke of Lerma :
 
 LETTERS FROM SPAIN. 377 
 
 " A letter from the DUKE OF LEEMA to DON JUAN DE AQUILA. 
 
 " Not many dayes past I wrote unto you, and now I make an- 
 swere to those which I received from you the thirteenth of the 
 last October, assuring you, that his majesty puts great confidence 
 in your care and valour. As touching the men, and other things 
 which you demaund, there is dispatched a good quantitie, and more 
 is in preparing, and make you no doubt, but still more shall bee in 
 sending, as much as may bee : for his majestic hath it before his 
 eyes, and I have taken in hand the solliciting thereof; wherefore 
 you may bee assured, that you shall not want any thing which may 
 bee sent that is needfull. There is now in readinesse 150 launces, 
 which shall be presently embarqued, and more men are in levying 
 with expedition, with whom money shall be sent. And so referring 
 myselfe (for the rest) to his majesties dispatch, I will say no more, 
 but to assure you, that in all things which may concerne you, 
 esteeme mee ever to bee your sollicitor. God keepe you. Valla- 
 dolid, the fourth of December, 1601. 
 
 " EL DUQUE DE LEEMA, MARQUES DE DENIA." 
 
 The next letter is from Lerma to the Spanish 
 Archbishop of Dublin, who had accompanied Don Juan 
 to Kinsale : 
 
 " A letter from the DUKE OF LEEMA to the AECHBISHOP o* 
 DUBLIN. 
 
 " I have received your lordship's letters, giving thanks to God 
 for the successe of your journey, for by it it appeares that there is 
 a way and doore open for many good purposes for his service, and 
 his majestic hath much confidence of the care and zeale which your 
 lordship hath for the progression in the same. Now we send you 
 a good body of men, with such things as is necessary, and more 
 shall be prepared, and so continue sending as much as wee may, 
 whereof you need not doubt ; for his majestie (whom God preserve) 
 holds it before his eyes, forasmuch as the most important thing 
 ( appertaining 1 ^ this businesse) is the joyning of the earles with 
 Don Juan de Aquila, his majestie commandeth your Lordship to
 
 378 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 doe in it your uttermost endevour, according to the confidence hee 
 hath in your zeale. God preserve your lordship. From Valladolid, 
 the fifth of December, 1601. 
 
 " EL DffQUE DE LERMA, MABQUES DE DENIA. 
 
 " Let not your lordship be wearied with your travells, I hope in 
 God they will be full of good successes. 
 
 The next letter is from the Spanish secretary. It is 
 full of promise, and one well calculated to spur the 
 Spanish general to great things : 
 
 " A letter from the Secretary YBAERA to DON JUAN DE AQTTILA. 
 
 " By Captaine Albornoz I wrote unto your lordship, and I wish 
 that this dispatch may overtake him (at the Groyne) according to 
 the desire I hold, that it, and that which goes with it, were with 
 your lordship, certifying you that as much is done (as may be) for 
 your supply in all things. I wrote unto your lordship, that there 
 were two companies of horse ready to be sent to you, but now I say 
 there is three, and in them two hundred and twenty souldiers, well 
 armed and horsed ; and it please God they shall be all embarqued 
 in this moneth. God in his divine mercy guid them. 
 
 " There is men levied in all Castile and Portugall, and shipping 
 embarged to transport them, victuals, and other necessaries in pro- 
 viding ; and now at this instant there is embarqued in Lisborne, in 
 the Groyne, and Saint Andera more than sixe thousand hanegas of 
 wheat, and three hundred pipes of wine, and some beanes and rice, 
 and sixe hundred arrobas of oyle ; and moreover, besides this which 
 I say is embarqued, there are commissaries taking of more up, and 
 no care shall bee wanting to hasten them away. 
 
 " I have spoken with Captaine Moreles, and of that which hee 
 hath told mee of the seat of the place, and of the small number of 
 men your lordship hath, I feele myselfe grieved ; but when I call to 
 mind what a person Don Juan de Aquila is, the way is open unto me 
 to expect great matters, and I hope God will grant the same accord- 
 ing to the worth of your lordship against your wicked enemies. 
 
 " Let your lordship hasten the joyning of the earles with you, 
 for of all things that is most important, which being done, before 
 the queene can reenforce her army, all is accomplished ; I am de-
 
 LETTERS FROM SPAIN. 379 
 
 sirous to heare that the excellent good horsemen were with your 
 lordship, that with them your lordship may winne honour in the 
 field, &c. 
 
 " From Valladolid this seventh of December, 1601. 
 
 " ESTEVAN DE YBAKRA." 
 
 We conclude from the tone and style that the next 
 letter was dictated by the king himself, and that the 
 writer was the king's confidential secretary : 
 
 " A letter from the Secretary FRANQUESA to DON JUAN DE AQTTILA. 
 
 " His majestic is much satisfied for the good government (in 
 those occasions) of your army, and I hope in God, that with the 
 succours which now shall be sent unto you, it will be bettered, in 
 such sort, that you will not onely bee able to defend yourselfe from 
 the enemies, but also to chastise them, the meanes to effect the 
 same, is for you to hold yourselfe as you are, untill the succours 
 aforesaid doe come ; in the meane time, the more you are pressed 
 upon, the more will be your reward and recompence, which his 
 majestie will conferre upon you, the which I will thrust on as occa- 
 sion shall offer it selfe, and bee always vigilant in these things which 
 shall concerne your lordship as I have beene. God preserve your 
 lordship according to my desire. 
 
 " From Mansilla, the thirteenth of January, 1602." 
 
 The following letter was written after O'DonnelPs 
 arrival in Spain, telling of the signal defeat of the Irish 
 before Kinsale. The king is by no means discouraged. 
 If Don Juan had any of the old blue blood of Spain in 
 his veins, the following letter was well calculated to 
 send it in a warm current through his whole frame : 
 
 " A letter from the DUKE or LEBMA to DON JUAN DE AQUJLA. 
 
 " By that which Zubiare and Pedro Lopez de Soto hath written, 
 and by the comming of the Earle O'Donnell, who is now in the 
 Groyne, wee have understood of the overthrow of the carles, and 
 from thence is gathered that all the forces are now bent against 
 you, and that your onely valour and wisdome hath been able to
 
 380 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 resist them ; and let the great estimation his majesty holdeth of you 
 mitigate the care which this businesse may bring you. 
 
 His majestic hath commanded me speedily to prepare gallant 
 succours, both by land and sea, which is done, and shall bee 
 presently dispatched, and this ship is onely sent to advertise you 
 thereof, to the end that you may with the more courage defend 
 your selfe, and to bring a true report in what state you stand, 
 which may more particularly appeare unto you by his majeetie's 
 letter, which with this you shall receive. 
 
 " Hee hath commanded me to add this, that hee hath in his 
 favour made you one of his councellors, of his councell at warres, 
 which I congratulate with you, assuring you on his part that, God 
 willing, hee will conferre greater favours upon you ; wherefore 
 proceed cheerefully, as both now and heretofore (in the course of 
 your life) you have done, taking every occasion to strengthen your 
 selfe in this siege, and to endammage the enemy, that hee may not 
 hinder you, and to assure the army no man living hath received 
 greater rewards from his majestic then you shall ; I take upon 
 myselfe the care of it, and I pray you to write me such good newes 
 as I desire, whereof I hope in God. In Mansilla, the thirteenth of 
 January, 1602. 
 
 " EL DUQUE DE LEBMA, MARQUES DE DENIA. 
 
 " God is my witnesse, I neither eate nor sleepe with lesse care 
 then any one of them that are with you, and I would willingly be 
 in the perill of every one of you, and if the shedding of my blood 
 might be advantageous, I would readily giue it for you all that 
 haue such need. Doe your endeavours, for presently succours shall 
 be sent unto you. 
 
 " To Don Juan de Aquila, Master of 
 the Campe, Generall of the Men- 
 of-Warre in Ireland." 
 
 The last letter is subscribed To EL BEY " I, the 
 king." Doctor Doran says, Yo El Rey has a thunder- 
 ing echo about it : 
 " A letter from the KING OF SPAINE to DON JUAN DE AQUILA. 
 
 " EL REY. 
 
 " Don Juan de Aquila, Master of the Campe, Generall of my 
 Army in Ireland; by that which Pedro de Zubiare, and Pedro
 
 PHILIP'S LETTER TO DON JUAN. 381 
 
 Lopez de Soto haue written unto me, I haue understood of the 
 defeat of the Earles Oneale and Odonnell, and likewise I now see 
 that all your hopes remaines in your valour and wisdome ; wherein 
 I haue such confidence, that I hope in the middest of so many 
 dangers and labours (wb.erewith you are inuironed) that you will 
 preserue the army untill more succours of shipping, men, armes, 
 and munitions be sent unto you, which are with al possible expedi- 
 tion in preparing, and shall bee speedily dispatched ; you may make 
 use of them, and take reuenge of the enemy, and untill they come, 
 which shall be (as I have said) with celerity, preserue yourselfe. 
 
 " I doe not advise you of any particulars, because I assure 
 myselfe of your judgement and experience, that knowes how to 
 make your advantage of such occasions as the enemy shall give, for 
 the benefit of the siege. And your selfe and the army (which is 
 with you) shall have good testimony of my bounty, thankfulnesse, 
 and honour I will doe unto you all ; and so much doe you signifie 
 unto the army from me. The Duke of Lerma shall write more 
 unto you. From Mansilla, the one-and-thirtie of January, 1602. 
 
 " Yo EL REY. 
 
 " To Don Juan de Aquila, Master 
 of the Campe, Generall of our 
 Army in Ireland. 
 
 " DON PEBEO FKANQTJESI..' 
 
 Don Juan de Aquila remained in the most blissful 
 ignorance of this correspondence. " All the while " 
 Don Juan was at Cork, the president and he had 
 familiar discourse together ; but for the most part their 
 passages of speech was between jest and earnest ; 
 somewhat sharp, and especially when they spoke of 
 religion, and their sovereigns, or nations. But the 
 Spaniard " carried a good respect of the president, as 
 by writing and presents sent, which shall in its due 
 place appear." 
 
 Neither deputy or president were at ease. Mountjoy, 
 writing to the lords of the English council, from Cork,
 
 382 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 on the 15th of February, says, " it appeareth by some 
 letters intercepted, that the king of Spain purposeth to 
 send a larger supply with all expedition." Again, 
 " that his heart is very much set upon the enterprise of 
 Ireland." Don Juan will do his best to stay the new 
 arrivals, and if he arrives in Spain before they start, has 
 no doubt of succeeding ; but Don Juan himself " stays, 
 to goe the last." But one ship, containing a hundred 
 and sixty Spaniards, has left Kinsale for Spain. There 
 are vessels in the harbour, able to carry away fifteen 
 hundred more, but the winds are contrary. 
 
 The wind changes on the '20th of February, and 
 1374 soldiers set sail from Kinsale to Spain. Don 
 Juan embarked at Kinsale on the 8th of March, an<l 
 sailed on the 16th. The lord deputy, writing to the 
 English council, says, "Don Juan and all the rest of 
 the Spaniards departed from Kinsale, on Tuesday, the 
 16th, and that the wind since hath served so well, as 
 we assure ourselves, by this, they are near the coast of 
 Spain." The following letter announces his arrival, 
 and his high opinion of Carew, notwithstanding the 
 theft of the dispatches : 
 
 "A letter from DON JUAN DE AQUILA to the LOBD PRESIDENT. 
 
 " Muy illustre sennor : to say the truth I am very glad that I am 
 in Spaine, and that the passage was good which I was to make. 
 I confesse unto your lordship, that I am so much obliged for the 
 honourable and good termes, which the Lord Deputy and your 
 Lordship vsed there in the service of your Prince, in all things 
 which concerned me, that I desire some apt occasion to manifest 
 my selfe to be a good paymaster (as I ought) for these courtesies^ 
 and for the assurance thereof, your lordship may send securely 
 to me, to command any thing you please for your service ; and 
 that your ship and passeport shall bee friendly received ; and for
 
 383 
 
 that in this count rey there is no fruit of more estimation than 
 wines of Ripadavia, limmons and orenges (these few are sent to 
 make a proofe thereof, and the willingnesse I haue to serue your 
 lordship ; whom I commend to God. 
 
 " From the Groyne, the second of Aprill, 1602." 
 
 Sir George Carew, who appears to have flattered the 
 Spaniard to the top of his bent, replies sending an 
 ambling hackney with this sly stroke of wit and 
 humour : 
 
 " I have received profit by the Book of Fortification which 
 your lordship left me at your departure, and hold it as a relique in 
 memory of you, and as a good scholler, I have put some things in 
 practise, whereof your lordship, at your returne hither againe, 
 (which I hope in God will be never) may be a witnesse whether I 
 have committed any error in the art or no. My greatest defect 
 hath beene the want of the helpe of so great a master as your lord- 
 ship is, of whom I am desirous to learne, not onely that art, but in 
 all else concerning military profession, in the which I do give your 
 lordship the preheminence. To conclude, I rest in all I may (my 
 dutie reserved to the queene, my mistresse,) affectionately ready at 
 your lordship's service, and so kissing your hands. I beseech God 
 to preserve you, with many happy yeares. 
 
 "From Corke, the seventeenth of September, 1602." 
 
 The Spanish general not only lost the favor of the 
 king, but any reputation as a general he may have 
 won. He was banished from the court, and confined 
 to his own house, where he died soon after of chagrin. 
 
 Captain Walter Edney, who carried the present, was 
 apprehended, and detained for nine months. The 
 ambling hackney was " detayned " by Earl of Carazena, 
 " to his own use."
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE SIEGE OF DTJNBOT CASTLE. 
 A.D. 1602. 
 
 THE indignation of Donnell O'Sullivan Beare was 
 unbounded when he discovered that Don Juan had 
 stipulated to deliver his castle of Dunboy into the hands 
 of the lord president. Writing to Don Pedro Zubiaur, 
 from Bearehaven, Feb. 20th, 1602, he says, "our state 
 since your departing, notwithstanding many crosses, 
 was reasonable well, until a bruite came to us, credibly, 
 that Don Juan de Aquila, who did not only agree and 
 compound to yield the town of Kinsale, but also other 
 castles and havens delivered voluntarily by the others.'' 
 
 In another place, he says, " losing the same unex- 
 pectedly, and surrendered into the hands of most here- 
 tical enemies, I am not only disappointed of all power, 
 but driven to run to the mountains, and there live like 
 wolves, for the safety of my life, and leave to their 
 merciless discretion all the poor men, women, and 
 children, with in the length of twenty leagues con- 
 taining." 
 
 In writing to King Philip, (Feb. 20th, 1602), he 
 says, *' I came to their presence, tendering my obey- 
 sance to them, in the name of your majesty, and being 
 with four hundred at my own cost, towards your service 
 I yielded out of my mere love and good will, without
 
 O'SULLIVAN'S COMPLAINT OF DON JUAN. 385 
 
 compulsion or composition, into their hands, in the 
 name of your majesty, not only my castle and haven } 
 called Bearehaven, but also my wife, my children, my 
 country, lordships, and all my possessions, for ever to 
 be disposed of at your pleasure. 
 
 " They received me in that manner, and promised (as 
 from your highness) to keep and save the said castle 
 and haven during the service of your grace. Notwith- 
 standing, my gracious lord, conclusions of peace was 
 assuredly agreed upon, betwixt Don Juan de Aquila 
 and the English, a fact pitiful, and, (according to my 
 judgment), against all right and human conscience. 
 Among other places, whereof your greatness was dis- 
 possessed, in that manner which were neither yielded 
 nor taken to the end they should be delivered to the 
 English, Don Juan tied himself to deliver my castle 
 and haven, the only key of mine inheritance, where- 
 upon the living of many thousand persons doth rest, 
 that live some twenty leagues upon the sea coast, into 
 the hands of my cruel, cursed, misbelieving enemies, 
 a thing, I fear, in respect of the execrableness, inhu- 
 manity, and ungratefulness of the fact, if it take effect, 
 as it was plotted, that will give cause to other men, 
 not to trust any Spaniard hereafter, with their bodies 
 or goods upon those causes." 
 
 Captain Roger Harvey, and Captain Flower, had 
 been commissioned, on the 10th of January, to take 
 possession of Castlehaven, Donneshed, and Donnebng 
 at Baltimore, and Dunboy at Bearehaven. Harvey 
 was successful, but Flower failed " by reason of foul 
 weather and contrary winds." Castlehaven was in 
 charge of Pedro Lopez de Soto, the Veador. He re- 
 
 26
 
 386 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 ceived Captain Harvey, who brought letters from Don 
 Juan, with great politeness, and entertained him with 
 great humanity, and over their Spanish wine they 
 spoke in this wise : 
 
 SOTO. Is it not a miserable and lamentable thing, 
 to any man's conscience, to see the daily effusion of 
 blood, and infinite expense of treasure, which this war 
 between Spain and England doth produce ? 
 
 HARVEY. It is too high a mystery for me. Princes 
 are God's ministers on earth, and what they do is be- 
 yond our ability to scan. He at the same time throws 
 out the hint, that Philip must have a great deal of 
 money to spare or he would not throw it away on 
 Ireland. 
 
 SOTO. And you think gold is so abundant with us ? 
 HARVEY. The Indian world, which you possess, 
 makes us believe it. 
 
 SOTO. Be not deceived, but if it were so, the king's 
 infinite number of garrisons would devour another 
 Indies. Then his war in the Low COUD tries, for which 
 he may thank the Queen of England, If she had not 
 assisted those traitors he would never have molested 
 either England or Ireland. 
 
 HARVEY. Then I see it is not religion or conscience 
 that brought you here, but revenge. 
 
 SOTO. And did you think otherwise ? I know you 
 did not, and if you say so I know you dissemble, for 
 the place where you have been brought up hath better 
 discipline. 
 
 HARVEY. Why ? Where have I been brought up ? 
 
 SOTO. I heard that you were near in blood to the 
 
 president, and that from a child you have followed him.
 
 HARVEY AND SOTo'3 DIALOGUE. 387 
 
 HAEVEY. I must thank you for your good opinion 
 of me, but have you ever seen the face of the president? 
 
 SOTO. I assure you no, for which I am very sorry, 
 for I hear he is a worthy gentleman, and one of the 
 wisest men in Ireland; and if I would take Irish 
 opinion, they confidently affirm that he hath a familiar. 
 They say he knows all things, and that nothing is 
 hidden from him. 
 
 \V hatever Sir George's knowledge may have been, 
 there was one matter of which both Soto and Harvey 
 were perfectly ignorant, namely, that the O'Driscolls 
 had made themselves masters of the castle while they 
 were discussing the conduct and character of princes 
 and presidents over their wine ; and if Harvey's two 
 brothers had not sailed up within sight of the castle, 
 with some heavy ordnance, in the very nick of time 
 they might have had some trouble in regaining pos- 
 session. The Spaniards were trying to get in again, 
 by undermining, when the Harveys entered the haven. 
 " Upon sight of the ships," the O'Driscolls " by com- 
 position to depart in safety rendered it to the Spaniards, 
 who had lost two of their soldiers in the attempt." 
 
 Captain Roger Harvey and his friend, Soto the 
 Veador, set sail, the 23rd of February, for Donnelong, 
 Baltimore, where they were " feasted" by the Governor 
 Andreas de Aervy. Here they shipped seven pieces of 
 cannon. On the 26th, both the castles, Donnelong and 
 Donneshed, were, with " Spanish gravitie" and Greek 
 faith, delivered into the hands of the English. 
 
 The case was different with Dunboy Castle, Beare- 
 haven, for which Captain George Flower shipped, in 
 " ahoy, or vessel of a hundred and twenty tons," with
 
 383 IIISTOBY OF CORK. 
 
 two companies of soldiers; but do all lie could, by 
 reason of foul weather and contrary winds, he could 
 not land, and was therefore compelled to return. He 
 lost fifty of the soldiers and all of his crew with 
 the exception of seven from some infection, Don- 
 nell O'Sullivan Beare took advantage of the delay to 
 regain possession of Dunboy Castle. 
 
 Although the Spaniards were in possession of 
 Dunboy, O'Sullivan Beare, who had voluntarily deli- 
 vered it into their hands, resided there, when it suited 
 his convenience. It was beneath its roof* he penned 
 or indited his letter to Philip, King of Spain, and, we 
 conclude, to the Earl of Carazena, and that to Don 
 Pedro Zubiaur, in which he calls Don Juan " a brute." 
 But he did not speak in this style to Francesco de 
 Saavedra, the Spanish governor, in command. 
 
 It is the dead of night, the Spaniards are sleeping 
 soundly, but the key of the castle is with Francesco. 
 O'Sullivan has a mason or two among his Irish friends 
 inside, who work a hole in the castle wall, through 
 which eighty armed men enter ; among whom we 
 have Thomas Fitz-Maurice, Lord of Lixnaw, the 
 descend ent of Raymond le Gros, Donnell Mac Carthy, 
 Captain Kichard Tirrell, the friend of O'Neill, Captain 
 William Burke, James Archer, the Jesuit, (who acted 
 as a decoy duck in the hands of Owny O'More, in 
 seizing the person of the Black Earl of Ormond), and 
 another priest, Father Dominick Collins,! we conclude, 
 to whom John Annias wrote about the saltpetre. A 
 
 * Beneath its roof. " Dunboy, viz., Beare-haven, the twentieth day of 
 February, 1602." Pac. Hib., p. 487. 
 
 f Fatter Dominick Collins was born in Youghal. He " had been brought up 
 in the wars of France, and there, under the league, had been a commander of 
 horse in Brittany, called Captaine Le Branch." Pacata Hibernia.
 
 O' SULLIVAN RETAKES DUNBOY. 389 
 
 thousand wild kerne and stalwarth galloglasses are 
 within gun shot outside. 
 
 The day begins to dawn as Archer the mind of the 
 party taps at Francesco's door and requests his pre- 
 sence in " Osulevan's chambers." He comes, and is 
 informed that the Irish are in possession of the castle ; 
 that they intend to guard it for the King of Spain, that 
 a larger force is outside, " within harquebusse shott of 
 the castle," that neither he nor his men shall receive 
 hurt, but they must not resist, Francesco was thunder- 
 struck, but made no resistance. Some of his men dis- 
 charged a few muskets, and killed three Irishmen, but 
 that was all. The Spaniards were then disarmed, and 
 sent to Ealtimore, to be shipped for Spain, with the 
 exception of the captain, a few of the better sort, and 
 three or four gunners, who might make themselves 
 useful, should the castle be besieged. 
 
 When the report of the surprise of Dunboy Castle 
 was made to Don Juan, who was then in Cork, he took 
 it for a great affront ; he feels his honor compromised ; 
 he must march the Spaniards from Kinsale who have 
 not yet embarked, and retake the castle, and deliver it, 
 according to the composition, into her majesty's hands. 
 Mountjoy and Carew, " who were desirous to see his 
 heels towards Ireland," requested him not to trouble 
 himself, that it was no fault of his that the castle had 
 been surprised ; that when he was gone they would 
 take order for reducing it. He is stayed by these 
 words, but must write an account of the affair to the 
 King of Spain, the Earl of Carazena, and Pedro de 
 Zubaire. Here we take our leave of this Don Juan or 
 Don Quixote, and turn to the siege of Dunboy.
 
 390 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 The Lord President despatched the Earl of Thomond 
 before him, to prepare provisions and munitions of war. 
 In his instructions, dated the 9th of March, 1602, he 
 says, " When you are in Beare, if you may, without 
 any apparent peril, take a view of the Castel of Dun- 
 boy." He directs him to leave no means unessayed to 
 get Donnell O'Sullivan Beare into his hands. He had 
 given him some private instructions on this subject : 
 " Give all the comfort you may to Owen O'Sullivan." 
 Owen O'Sullivan laid claim to the Castle of Dunboy. 
 " Have special care to prosecute and plague the 
 O'Crowleys, who have assisted Dermot Moyle Mac 
 Carthy. Sir Owen Mac Carthy's sons, if they be well 
 handed, will prove the best instruments of doing so, as 
 he stands between them and the lord of the country." 
 How unlike a gallant soldier all this. What a deve- 
 lopement it affords of the divide and conquer principle. 
 Even the Deputy Mountjoy, who was a brave soldier, 
 says, writing to the English council, " As for Fineen 
 O'Driscoll, 0' Donovan, and the two sons of Sir Owen 
 Mac Cartie, they and their fellows, since their coming 
 in, are grown very odious to the rebels in these parts, 
 and are so well divided in factions amongst themselves, as 
 they are fallen to preying and killing one another ', which 
 we conceive will much avail to the quieting of these parts" 
 Stafford says, "It was thought no ill policie to make 
 the Irish draw bloud one upon another, whereby their 
 private quarrels might advance the publike service." 
 
 Thomond did his best to follow his instructions, but 
 was not able " to take a view of the Castle of Dunboy." 
 He was stopped at the Ceim an Ghabhair,* or the Goat's 
 
 * Ceim an Ghabhair, now Keamagower, alias Cromwell's Bridge, parish of Kilcaskin.
 
 CAREW SETS OUT FOR DTOBOY. 391 
 
 Pass, in the mountains of Beare, by Captain Tirrell, 
 who with O'Sullivan Beare, kept the field, leaving the 
 care of the castle to his constable, Richard MacGeoghe- 
 gan. The Four Masters say the sons of Owen [O'Sul- 
 livan] were assisting the earl against O'Sullivan [Beare], 
 because the O'Sullivan had taken Dun-Badi and Beare 
 from their father, by the decision of Council beyond 
 and here,* and was accustomed to say that he should, 
 by right, receive the rents of Bantry." O'Donovan 
 was also at strife with O'Sullivan Beare on this occa- 
 sion, and had some fighting with him at this place. 
 But Captain Tirrell had taken so strong a position in 
 the mountains of Beare, that Thomond was compelled 
 to turn back. He left part of his army on Whiddy 
 Island, in Bantry Bay, a place " very convenient for 
 the service," and returned with the rest of the forces 
 to Cork, to report progress to the president, who pre- 
 pares to take the field in person. 
 
 He left Cork, feeble and weak, much against the 
 advice of his friends, on the 20th of April, 1602, and 
 encamped that night at Owneboy Awnbuidhe near 
 Kinsale, where Tyrone received the great overthrow ; 
 the 24th, he marched to Timoleague, where he executed 
 three rebels ; the 25th, to Rosscarbery ; the 26th, over 
 the Leap to Castlehaven; the 27th, to Baltimore; the 
 29th, they encamped on a mountain near " Kilcoa, 
 being a castle wherein the rebel Conoghor, the eldest 
 son of Sir Fineen O'Driscoll, knight, held a ward; 
 the 30th, the army dislodged and drew to Carew 
 Castle, built in ancient time by the Lord President's 
 
 * The Council beyond and here. The English and Irish Council.
 
 392 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 ancestors, and by the Irish called Downemarke, or the 
 Marques his house, being two miles distant from the 
 Abbey of Bantry, where wee sate downe, as well to 
 give annoyance to the rebels as to tarry the coming of 
 the shipping with victuals, munition, and ordnance; 
 at which place Captaine George Flower with his gar- 
 rison (left there by the Earle of Thomond) fell in 
 unto us." 
 
 On the 1st of May Captain Taaffe made a foray, with 
 a troop of horse from the camp, and brought in three 
 hundred cows, a great number of sheep, and some 
 horses. A foray was made on the 3rd, by the sons of 
 Sir Owen O'Sullivan " who was firm and deserved 
 well of her majesty" who brought in fifty cows and 
 a number of sheep. On the 4th, a descendant of the 
 famous Aenghus O'Daly,* the poet of Muintir-Beare, 
 was arrested, and brought before Sir George. He was 
 committed for trial at the next sessions, and not hanged 
 or shot, there and then, because Sir George held him 
 as a descendant of the hereditary bards or rhymers of 
 his ancestors. 
 
 "This O'Daly's ancestor," writes Stafford, "had 
 the country of Moynter-bary [Muintir Beare] given 
 unto him by the Lord President's ancestor, many 
 hundred yeares past, at which time Carew had to his 
 inheritance the moiety of the whole kingdome of Corke, 
 which wa,s first given by King Henry the Second unto 
 Robert Fitz-Stephen. The service which O'Daly and 
 
 *Aenyhus 0"Ealy.(See pages 66 to 68.)" Several of the Dalys, or O'Daly's 
 of Muintir, claim descent from him ; namely, Daniel Daly of Ahakista, deceased, 
 and several others ; but the widow Connell, alias Mary Daly, now [1852] in the 
 Bantry Workhouse, is helieved to he the nearest akin to him." The Tribes of 
 Ireland, p. 14, edited by Doctor O'Donovan.
 
 CAREW'S MODE OF MAKING WAK. 393 
 
 his progenie were to doe, for so large a proportion of 
 lands, unto Carew and his successors, was, (according 
 to the custome of that time) to bee their rimers, or 
 chroniclers of their actions." 
 
 The following letter, dated from the " Campe, nere 
 Bantrie, the seventh of May, 1602," was, we suspect, 
 written at Carew Castle. It is unworthy of a soldier, 
 though he speaks of the faith of a gentleman. Under- 
 standing, says Stafford, that the Spanish cannoniers 
 were still in Dunboy, as well in regard they were 
 strangers, but especially to deprive the enemy of their 
 service, he wrote a letter in Spanish to them : 
 
 " A letter from the LOBD PRESIDENT to the SPANISH CANNONIEBS 
 in Dunboy. 
 
 " When Don Juan de Aquila (Generall for the Spanish Armie 
 in Ireland) departed from the Citie of Corke, having a care of your 
 safeties, requested nice to favour you, saying, That contrary to your 
 willes the traytor Donnell O' Sullivan (by force) held you in his 
 Castle of Dunboy, there to serve him as cannoniers. I now calling 
 to mind his desire, (in the love I beare him, being so great a cap- 
 taine, and so honourable a person as he is) and in consideration of 
 the promise I made him, doe write this letter unto you, promising 
 (for the reasons before mentioned) that when I shall sit downe (with 
 my forces) before the castle (where you are) if then you will quitt 
 the same and come unto mee, I will, by the faith of a gentleman, and 
 a Christian, make good my promise to Don Juan de Aquila ; not 
 onely to secure you in comming to me, and in the like safetie to 
 bee with mee, but also to relieve and supply your wants, and like- 
 wise, at your pleasure, to accommodate you with a ship, and my 
 passport, safely to passe into Spaine, in such manner as hath been 
 already accomplished to the rest of the Spanyards that are returned 
 to their countrey. 
 
 " This above written I am obliged by my promise to Don Juan 
 to fulfill. But if you have a desire to finde or receive further favours 
 at my hands, you may with facilitie deserve it, that is, when you
 
 394 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 leave the castle to cloy the ordnance, or mayme their carriages, that 
 when they shall have need of them, they may proove uselesse, for 
 the which I will forthwith liberally recompense you answerable to 
 the qualitie of your merit. 
 
 " Lastly, if there bee in your companies any strangers, (English 
 and Irish excepted) which are likewise by force held (as you are) 
 these my letters shall be sufficient to secure their repaire to me, and 
 also to depart, as hath beene before mentioned, conditionally, that 
 you and they present your selves unto mee, before our ordnance 
 shall begin to batter the Castle of Dunboy aforesayd. But if on 
 your part default be made, I holde myselfe clearely acquitted of my 
 promise made to Don Juan, and to bee free from breach of faith on 
 my part, and you ever after incapable of this favour of my promised 
 offer. Returne me your answer by this bearer in writing, or by 
 some other in whom you have more confidence. 
 
 " From the Campe neere Bantrie, the seventh of May, 1602. 
 
 " To the Spanyards held by force 
 in the Castle of Dunboy." 
 
 The letter to the Spanish cannoniers produced no 
 effect, but the Lord President, nothing discouraged, 
 will try again. On the first of June, the Earl of 
 Ormond and Sir Charles Wilmot are instructed to land 
 with their regiments on Beare Island ; the president 
 and Sir Eichard Percy follow on the second. Here 
 occurs a private meeting between Kichard Mac Geo- 
 ghegan, the constable of Dunboy, and Thomond, who 
 tries to tempt him to betray his trust. In the map of 
 the siege of Dunboy, we have a sketch of the two 
 figures. The incorruptible Mac Geoghegan appears 1 
 to be moving off with a flag of truce, and the back 
 of my hand to you, Thomond while Thomond follows 
 in a somewhat threatening attitude. " Whether Mac 
 Geoghegan did intreat the earle that he might have 
 a safe-conduct to speake with him, I am uncertaine,
 
 AID FEOM SPAIN. 395 
 
 but of this / am sure, that the earle's meeting with 
 him was not without the president's knowledge. All 
 the eloquence and artifice which the earle could use 
 avayled nothing, for Mac Geoghegan was resolved to 
 persevere in his wayes ; and in the great love which 
 hee pretended to beare unto the earle, hee advised him 
 not to hazard his life by landing upon the main land, 
 where stood the castle. The interview, as we have 
 stated, took place on Beare Island.'' 
 
 This interview occurred on the fifth of June, 1602- 
 On the same day a Spanish ship sailed up the Kenmare 
 river to Ardea Castle, where 0' Sullivan kept war 
 stores. This vessel was sent especially from Spain, to 
 know the state of Dunboy Castle, King Philip's last 
 stronghold in Ireland. There was a good supply of 
 Spanish gold aboard some said twelve thousand 
 pounds. Ellen Cartie, the wife of Owen O'Sullivan, 
 then a prisoner with Donnell O'Sullivan in Ardea 
 Castle, saw 3,710 distributed among fourteen persons. 
 O'Sullivan Beare got 1500; Dermot Moyle Mac 
 Carthy, Florence's brother, 300; Sir Fineen O'Driscoll 
 and his son, Conor, 500 between them ; O'Donovan, 
 200 ; John Fitz-Thomas, brother of the Sugan Earl, 
 200 ; Archer, the Jesuit, 150 ; Donough Moyle 
 Mac Carthy, 160 ; Conor Kerry, the Knight of the 
 Yalley, Conor Mac Namara, and Eichard Blake, 100 
 each ; O'Donnell Mac Carthy, the Bast., 400. Capt 
 Tirrell, and his company of bonnoughs, must have 
 received a large portion of the 12,000. We read also 
 of four boats of wine, and munitions of war. 
 
 The money was committed to the care of Owen 
 Mac Egan, who is styled in the Pacata Hibernia, " the
 
 396 HISTORY OP CORK. 
 
 Pope's Bishop of Boss,* and Vicarius Apostolicus," and 
 had a magical effect upon the beseiged. The letter is 
 addressed to the constable of the castle, and is written 
 in a pleasant cheerful style : 
 
 "A letter from OWEN MAC EGAN to RICHARD MAC GOGH AG AX 
 at Dunboy. 
 
 " Master Richard, I commend mee unto you, being very glad of 
 the good report I heare of you, whereby I cannot but expect much 
 (with God his assistance) in that lawfull and godly cause of you. I 
 am sorry, but it was my lucke to conferre with you, and with the 
 rest of your company, and informe you of all the state of the matters 
 of Spaine ; but upon my credit and conscience, there is no peece of 
 service now in hand in all Christendome for the King of Spaine, 
 then the same that yee have. How great it is to God, and necessary 
 for our countrey affaires you know. Moreover, within few dayes 
 you shall have releefe of men come to helpe you thither out of 
 Spaine : the great army of fourteene thousand men are forth com- 
 ming, you shall all be as well recompensed, both by God and by the 
 Kings Majestie, as any ward that is in all the world againe ; have 
 me I pray commended to all, and especially to father Dominick, and 
 bid him bee of good courage ; there comes with the army a father 
 of the company an Italian, for the Pope his Nuncius, in whose 
 company I came from Rome to the Court of Spaine, and there hee 
 expects the armies comming hither, hee shall give all a benediction, 
 yea I hope within your castle there, spite of all the devils in hell. 
 
 " From the Catholike Carrpe, this present Wednesday, 1602. 
 " Your assured Friend, 
 
 " OWEN HEGAINE. 
 
 " In my sacrifice and other poore prayers I will not faile, but 
 commend you and your good cause to God ; our shippe did arrive 
 three dayes agon, and our letters is come to the king by this time. 
 Nisi Dommus custodierit civitatem, #c." 
 
 The president drew his forces to the main land, 
 
 * I7te Pope's Bistop of Boss.Dr. O'Hea, the present Catholic Bishop of 
 Ross, informs the writer, that that Mac Egan was " Bishop elect of Ross ;" but, 
 it is supposed, he had never been consecrated."
 
 SKIRMISHING BEFORE DUXBOY. . 397 
 
 within a mile of Dunboy, on the 7th of June, 1602. 
 An arm of the sea, or haven, ran between the castle 
 and the camp. 
 
 Sir George stole out of the camp, with Sir Charles 
 Wilmot, and a hundred foot, to view the castle, and 
 the adjoining ground. He finds "a faire place, of 
 good ground, and of capacity sufficient to encamp in, 
 within twelve score yards of the castle, and yet out of 
 sight of it, by reason of a rising interjacent. And upon 
 the top of a small ascent, in the midst of rocks, a faire 
 green plot of ground, not a hundred and forty yards 
 distant from the castle, like a natural platform suffi- 
 ciently large for the artillery." Everything seems to 
 favor Sir George. His party are seen reconnoitering, 
 and some shots are fired. Sir Charles Wilmot's horse 
 is hit on the foot. The president, if we may believe 
 Stafford, was not deficient in personal courage : 
 
 " The same day (June 15th) the President, the Earle 
 of Thomond, and Sir Charles Wilmott, taking a guard 
 of foot with them, rode (for recreation) out of the campe 
 towards our last camping place, and riding softly by 
 the sea side, (all three in ranke) having left their foot 
 behinde them, they espied a gunner in the castle tra- 
 versing a peece of ordnance. This fellow (said the 
 president) will make a shott at us : the word was no 
 sooner spoken but fire was given. The president know- 
 ing that gunners doe evermore lay before a mooving 
 marke, rayned his horse and stood fir me; the Earle 
 and Sir Charles started forward, and the bullet grazed 
 even at their horse heeles, beating some of the earth 
 upon them. The president glad to see them past 
 danger, laughing, sayd, That if they had been as good
 
 398 HISTORY OF CORK, 
 
 mechanicall cannoniers, as they were commanders, they 
 would have stood firme as hee did." 
 
 Dunboy Castle was of great height, with a turret on 
 the south west, resting on a strongly arched floor. An 
 iron falcon * was mounted on the turret. The outer wall 
 or barbican was sixteen feet high, and four feet thick, 
 faced with sods, intermingled with wood and faggots. 
 This outer wall was defended by turrets and curtains. 
 
 The president's battery opened on the turret of the 
 castle, at five o'clock in the morning, on the 17th of 
 June, and continued to play upon it for five hours, till 
 nine in the forenoon, when turret and falcon " tumbled 
 downe." The cannon then opened on the west point 
 of the castle itself, which fell at one o'clock. On its 
 fall, a messenger was sent with a flag of truce, offering 
 to surrender, if they got their lives. The messenger 
 was executed. A breach is made, and the barbican 
 mounted, and the English colors planted on one of the 
 turrets ; but the invading party fought for a full hour 
 and a half before the eight feet of ground, that divided 
 the barbican from the castle, could be crossed. All who 
 entered this narrow passage were at once crushed with 
 stones and shot from above. But the besieged did not 
 perceive, till it was too late, that in filling up, or par- 
 tially filling up, this passage, they were making 
 a causeway for the enemy to pass. " The ruins, there- 
 fore, made a way that leads to a spike " or window, 
 through which a sergeant enters and gains the top of 
 the arch, upon which the castle turret stood. Where 
 one enters, so may another. The besiegers, in their 
 
 * Falcon, a cannon, about seven feet long, diameter at the bore, five inches 
 and a quarter.
 
 GEOGHEGAN MORTALLY WOUNDED. 399 
 
 turn, come down on the enemy, whose condition is 
 desperate. About forty rush out, and make for the 
 shore ; all are slain, save eight, who take to the water ; 
 they are pursued, and their blood tinges the blue waves 
 of the Atlantic, Three leap from the arched roof, one 
 of them, a notable rebel, Melaghlin O'Moore, who had 
 " plucked" the Earl of Ormond from his horse, when 
 made prisoner by Owny Mac Kory O'Moore and 
 were slain by the soldiers. We shall conclude the 
 description of the siege in the words of Thomas Staf- 
 ford : 
 
 " Then Mac Goghegan, chiefs commander of the 
 place, being mortally wounded with divers shott in 
 his body, the rest made choise of one Thomas Taylor, 
 an Englishman's sonne, (the dearest and inwardest 
 man with Tirrell, and married to his neece) to bee 
 their chiefe, who, having nine barrels of powder, drew 
 himselfe and it into the vault, and there sate downe 
 by it, with a light match in his hand, vowing and 
 protesting to set it on fire, and blow up the castle, 
 himselfe, and all the reste, except they might have 
 promise of life, which being by the Lord President 
 refused, (for the safety of our men) his lordship gave 
 direction for a new battery upon the vault, intending 
 to bury them in the mines thereof, and after a few 
 times discharged, and the bullets entering amongst 
 them into the cellar, the rest that were with Taylor, 
 partly by intercession, but chiefly by compulsion, 
 (threatening to deliver him up if hee were obstinate) 
 about ten of the clock in the morning of the same day, 
 constrained him to render himself simply, with eight 
 and fortie more being ready to come forth.
 
 400 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 " Sir George Thornton, the Serjeant-major, Captain 
 Eoger Harvie, Captain Power, and others, entering the 
 vault to receive them, Captain Power found the said 
 Richard Mac Goghegan lying there mortally wounded 
 (as before) and perceiving Taylor and the rest ready to 
 render themselves, raised himselfe from the ground, 
 snatching a light candle, and staggering therewith to 
 a barrell of powder (which for that purpose was un- 
 headed) offering to cast it into the same, Captain Power 
 took him, and held him in his armes, with intent to 
 make him prisoner, untill he was by our men (who 
 perceived his intent) instantly killed, and then Taylor 
 and the rest were brought prisoners to the campe. 
 
 " The same day fiftie-eight were executed in the 
 market-place, but the Fryer Taylor, and one Tirlagh 
 Roe MacSwiney, a follower unto Sir Tirlagh O'Brian, 
 and twelve more of Tirrell's chiefe men, the Lord Pre- 
 sident reserved alive, to trie whether he could draw 
 them to doe some more acceptable service than their 
 lives were worth. The whole number of the ward 
 consisted of one hundred and fortie-three selected 
 fighting men, being the best choice of all their forces, 
 of the which no one man escaped, but were either 
 slaine, executed, or buried in the ruines, and so obsti- 
 nate and resolved a defence had not bin scene within 
 this kingdome. 
 
 " On our part we lost in the place Thomas Smith, 
 Captaine, Francis Slingsbies, Lieutenant, and some 
 others ; and many of our men were burnt with powder 
 and fireworks, which the enemie cast amongst them as 
 they were in fight. Men of note hurt: Captaine 
 Dodington shot with two bullets in the body, but not
 
 DUNBOY CASTLE BLOWN UP. 401 
 
 mortall; his Lieutenant, Francis Kirton, shot in the 
 arme and thigh; divers Sergeants, and sixtie-two 
 souldiers maimed and wounded, of which some are 
 dead since, and others like to follow. And amongst 
 the rest, Sir Anthony Cooke, Sir Garrett Harvie, 
 Captaine Skipwith, and Captaine Eoger Harvie, re- 
 ceived severall bruises with stones and iron bullets 
 flung upon them, but being well armed, they received 
 no great hurt. 
 
 " In the castle we gayned ten peeces of ordnance, 
 whereof fower were brasse, two of them being broken 
 by our battery, and another piece of brasse was like- 
 wise broken by our ordnance, before any part of the 
 castle fell, which the prisoners say is so deeply buried 
 in the ruines, as the search of the metall is not worth 
 the labour ; all the carredges were, by the fall of the 
 castle and by our artillery, so broken, as no one of 
 them were left serviceable. Moreover, there was of 
 powder nine barrels, some great shot, but their whole 
 store, by reason of the ruines, wee could not well find. 
 There was also in the castle some quantities of wine, 
 vinegar, oyle, corne, beefe, and hides, which the soul- 
 diers made pillage of." 
 
 On the 22nd of June, 1602, the castle of Dunboy 
 was blown into the air, and all its works and fortifica- 
 tions utterly destroyed. 
 
 Some of Captain Tirrell's men were among the 
 prisoners. The president propounded a " stratagem " 
 to the captain some accomplished piece of devilment, 
 no doubt by the doing of which he and his men were 
 to get their lives and liberties. He replied, " I will 
 ransom my men with money, if that be accepted, but 
 
 27
 
 402 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 to be false to the King of Spain, my master, or to 
 betray the Catholic cause, I will never." His men 
 were accordingly executed. 
 
 Taylor, who was accused of being engaged in the 
 murder of Captain George Bingham, at Sligo, was 
 carried to Cork and executed. His body hung in 
 chains, " not far from the North Gate." 
 
 Dominick Collins, the friar, "in whom no penitence 
 appeared," and who would not " merit his life either 
 by discovering the rebels' intention or by doing some 
 service that might deserve favour," was hanged at 
 Youghal, the town where he was born. James Archer, 
 the Jesuit, and Conor O'Driscoll, the son of Sir Pineen 
 O'Driscoll, escaped to Spain; O'Sullivan Beare and 
 Captain Tirrell into Kerry.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 BLABNEY CASTLE AND COBMAC MAC DERMOT MAC CABTHT. 
 A.D. 1602. 
 
 THERE is one more castle in the county of Cork which 
 the Lord President desires to see in the hands of the 
 state before he can write the last page of his Pacata 
 Hibernia. The name of the castle is BLARNEY, and it 
 is in the possession of Corrnac Mac Dermot Mac Carthy, 
 the Lord of Muskerry, a nobleman, who has been long 
 reconciled; who united his forces with those of the 
 Lord Deputy Mountjoy, at the siege of Kinsale ; who 
 marched with the Lord President to Holy cross, to meet 
 O'Donnell, and bar his way to Munster ; who ate and 
 drank with the president, and for aught we know, was 
 his " loving bed-fellow sometimes;" but now that 
 Dunboy is taken, and his services are no longer re- 
 quired, Sir George is about rewarding him in the 
 Cyclopean fashion of eating him last ; but the affair is 
 somewhat delicate and requires wise handling. 
 
 The Lord of Muskerry has a cousin called Teige 
 Mac Cormac, son to that "well-deserving gentleman," 
 Sir Cormac Teige Mac Carthy; " the rarest man of all 
 the Irishry." This young gentleman was in the pre- 
 sident's troop of horse, but stole away to the Spaniards. 
 He now desires to be reconciled, and what is more
 
 404 HISTOET OP COKE. 
 
 fortunate, has some claims on Muskerry. He is en- 
 couraged to approach the president. He writes from 
 his fairy castle of Carrig-a- pooka.* The letter is dated 
 June, 1602 : 
 
 "A letter from TEG MAC CORMOCK CARTIE to the LOBD PRESIDENT, 
 entreating the remission of his offences. 
 
 " Right Honourable, my dutie most humbly remembred ; having 
 long forborne, though thereby disquieted in mind, and ashamed of 
 myselfe to send unto your honour : yet presuming upon her majes- 
 ties mercie and your favour, I have made bold to become a petitioner 
 to your honour, that it may please you to admit me thereunto, and 
 to forgive and forget my faults, considering they were not malicious, 
 but youthfull, and not of pretence to hurt her majestic or her sub- 
 jects, but in hope to recover against my Cosen, Cormock Mac Dtr- 
 mody, some meanes to maintaine my decayed estate, and still likely 
 to be suppressed by his greatnesse, who will by no meanes give me 
 a portion of land to live upon, as was promised upon the delivery up 
 of Kilcrey by your honour, wherein, as of the rest, I doe againe 
 humbly beseech your favour, and so as with a repentant and penitent 
 transgressor of the lawes, I doe humbly submit myselfe to her ma- 
 jesties grace, and will endeavour myselfe hereafter by my good deeds 
 and services, to wipe out the memory of my former follies. Expect, 
 ing your favourable answer, I most humbly take my leave. 
 
 " From Carrigifuky, this ninth of June, 1602. 
 
 " Your honour's most humble to command, 
 
 " TEG MAC CORMOCK CARTIE." 
 
 The president's displeasure is so deep that he cannot 
 receive him into favour except he merits it " by some 
 signal service." The young gentleman of Carrig-a- 
 pooka knows that the service required will play the 
 very mischief with the old gentleman at Blarney, but 
 
 * Carrig-a-pooka. Carrickafouky, which means Fairy-rock Castle, built by 
 the Mac Carthys of Brisbane. Smith, vol. 1, page 182. It is on the road from 
 Macroom to Killarney. The Pooka or Puck, in Ireland, is a mischievous sprite, 
 almost tantamount to the devil ; very difl'erent from Shakspeare's " Gentle Puck"
 
 TREACHERY OF TEIGE MAC CARTHY. 405 
 
 having some claim on Muskerry he does it with good 
 will. 
 
 " He deposed first, that Dermot Mac Carthy had 
 undertaken traffique with Don John de Aquila, letters 
 ordinarily passing betweene him and the said Cormock, 
 and in particular, hee averred, that hee saw Don John, 
 himselfe, to deliver unto James Galde Butler, (Cor- 
 mock's wife's brother) two letters, the one from the 
 king and the other from the church ; but from what 
 particular church -man hee could not certain ely affirme, 
 but by all probability it should seeme to bee from the 
 Pope ; these two letters were by him sent to bee deli- 
 vered to Cormock, aforesaid, together with his owne 
 commendations in these words : Commend me to your 
 brother-in-law, Cormock, and deliver him these two 
 letters, the one from the king and the other from the 
 church which were the same night delivered. 
 
 11 Moreover, hee was deposed (by vertue of which 
 oath he affirmed) that upon his knowledge Cormock 
 had secret conference with Owen Mac Eggan, since his 
 last arrivall out of Spaiue, and that from him hee had 
 received eight hundred duckets impresse, and there- 
 upon had accorded to yeeld into the Spaniards hands 
 (immediately upon their landing) his strong Castle of 
 the Blarny, situate within two miles of Corke, which 
 deposition was afterwards confirmed by the testimony 
 and evidence of sundry other credible personages; 
 these informations concurring with the examinations 
 of Dermond Mac Cartie, by the Spaniard called Don 
 Dermutio, (executed at Corke, of whom before you 
 have heard) and also manyfold proofes, existing of his 
 often combination with Tyrone, O'Donnell, Florence
 
 406 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 Mac Cartie, and James Fitz-Thomas, with other triviall 
 treasons ordinary amongst these Provincials, the pre- 
 sident, with the advice of the Provinciall Councell, 
 thought it a matter of very dangerous consequence to 
 permit such grosse and palpable treasons to escape un- 
 punished." 
 
 On these depositions it is privately resolved that the 
 Lord of Muskerry be arrested, and that his strong 
 castle of Blarney be seized. In order to avoid sus- 
 picion, the president takes a journey to Kinsale, to 
 view Castle Park, which had been in the possession of 
 the Spaniards, and gives instructions that Sir Charles 
 Wilmot, Captain Eoger Harvey, a serjeant, and four- 
 and-twenty foot, "should make a shew of going to 
 hunt a buck " in the neighbourhood of Blarney ; and 
 being hot and weary with the chase, call at the castle 
 on their return, and ask for "wine and usquebagh, 
 whereof Irish gentlemen are seldom disfurnished." The 
 hunting party call. The dogs are baying, and the 
 bugles sounding round the bawn, but whether it was 
 that the dragoons did not manage their horses like 
 huntsmen, or that they overdid the thing, the warders 
 on the wall were suspicious, and refused to open the 
 gates. Sir Charles Wilmot may ride round the moat, 
 and admire the "maine rock"* on which the castle 
 stands, and praise its exterior, as the fox did the 
 shining feathers of the crow, and " much importune to 
 see the romey within," but the warders shake their 
 heads. Neither Sir Charles, nor one of his people, 
 
 * Maine rock. " His castle of Blarney is one of the largest and strongest 
 castles in the province of Munster, for its fower piles, joyned in one, seated upon 
 a maine rock, so that it is free from niyning ; the wall eighteene foot thick, arul 
 well flanked at each corner to the test advantage." Pac. fij'6., p. 598.
 
 CORMAC MAC CARTHY IN SHANDON CASTLE. 407 
 
 "were permitted to enter the gates, or " hardly to look 
 within the gate of the bawne." They must hunt the 
 buck in some other way. 
 
 We are not informed in what way the Lord of 
 Muskerry was arrested, but it was managed by the 
 Chief Justice, Saxey, who committed the prisoner to 
 the care of the " gentleman porter, " Master Ealph 
 Hammon, till the president's pleasure should be known, 
 at his return from Kinsale. The president returns, 
 and Mac Carthy complains of his apprehension. Sir 
 George will call the Chief Justice before him, and take 
 order that no unjust or sinister proceedings shall be 
 taken against him ; but, in the meantime, advises him 
 to submit till the day of trial. 
 
 He is called before the president and council, at 
 Shandon Castle, and solemnly denies all the charges, 
 and especially all dealings or combinations with Owen 
 Mac Eggan, or Mac Egan, the Pope's Apostolic 
 Vicar. The president replied that this was the only 
 matter of importance with which he could be arraigned, 
 his pardon covering any former charges. He was 
 therefore requested, as a proof of his loyal and guiltless 
 heart, to deliver up his castle of Blarney, with the 
 promise of having it restored, if the charge of his deal- 
 ing and complicity with Owen Mac Egan, were 
 not fully proved. To this he objected. An order was 
 therefore issued to the gentleman porter, to keep him 
 " in yrons closer than before, untill he should demean 
 himself in more dutiful conformitie." Captain Taaffe, 
 in whom Mac Carthy reposed much trust, was employed 
 to persuade him to surrender the castle ; undertaking 
 " upon his credit " to preserve his goods from loss
 
 408 HISTORY OF COBK. 
 
 or danger. Mac Carthy, perceiving that " the presi- 
 dent was resolved either to make him bend or breake," 
 commanded his constable to deliver the castle into the 
 hands of Captain Taaffe. Whether or not he stipu- 
 lated for his liberty we cannot say, but he did not 
 gain it. 
 
 This Lord of Muskerry was possessed of two other 
 castles, which were deemed of "good importance 
 to command the country, the castle of Kilcrea,* and 
 the castle of Macroom." Kilcrea was rendered 
 we are not told how to Captain Slingsby, whom the 
 president sent there to take possession. The case was 
 different with Macroom, seated in the heart of Muskerry, 
 and environed about with woods and bogs. The pre- 
 sident sent Captain Flower, and afterwards Sir Charles 
 Wilmot, to lie before it, and gain it by sap or mine, 
 or other stratagem. That which Sir Charles could not 
 accomplish, was done by a very simple accident. The 
 warders having killed a pig, and having " no water to 
 scald the same, were constrained to singe her, as the 
 manner of some countries is." The fire caught the 
 thatch of a cabin, within the bawn, and then the castle. 
 The guard rush out, when about fifty of them are slain, 
 and the smouldering ruins possessed by the Lord 
 President's troops, by whom it is furnished, victualled, 
 and rendered tenable. 
 
 "We have related, in a previous part of this history, 
 how the Lord President sent to London for the son of 
 the great outlawed Earl of Desmond, in order to pit 
 
 * The Castle of Kilcrea. Mr. Windele calls it "a pile of considerable extent. 
 though inferior in importance and size to that of Blarney. Its site is enclosed by 
 a narrow moat, still filled with water. The castle itself is a square tower, seventy 
 feet high."
 
 409 
 
 him against the Sugan Earl, then in rebellion. The 
 friends of Cormac Mac Dermot, Lord of Muskerry, 
 resolve to copy the president in this instance, by having 
 the young lord of Muskerry, who is at this time a 
 student at the University of Oxford, privately conveyed 
 into Ireland. John O'Healy, " one of Cormac's old 
 theeves " is to be the messenger. He is aboard, in 
 the hold of the vessel, with the necessary letters and 
 credentials. The vessel is to sail from the port of 
 Cork, by the next tide, when the president gets a 
 whisper of the plot. John is caught, and searched, but 
 manages to throw his letters and money into the sea, 
 so nothing could be proved. 
 
 The president, who is doubly suspicious of Dermot 
 Mac Carthy, sends for Master Ealph Hammon, the 
 gentleman porter, and charges him, on his duty to the 
 state, his allegiance to her majesty, and the love he 
 bears himself, to be as careful of the Lord of Muskerry 
 as of his own life. He also sends for the bishop of 
 Cork, and requests him to warn Hammon to be vigi- 
 lant. The bishop does so, " gravely and pathetically " 
 "Abundans coutela non nocet." Master Richard 
 promises to be careful, but, at the same time, requests 
 the president not to torment his mind with imaginary 
 doubts. 
 
 Sir George Carew's conduct in this instance if 
 correctly reported was well calculated to strengthen 
 the suspicion that he had " a familiar." 
 
 Forty-eight hours have elapsed. The night is dark, 
 
 as a woman passes beneath the iron-barred windows of 
 
 Shandon Castle. She sees something white emerging 
 
 rom one of the windows, and gives a scream. The
 
 410 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 guard are up. The Lord of Muskerry's chamber 
 examined. His lordship escaped by the window, in 
 his shirt. 
 
 He was assisted by his trusty servant, Mahon Oge 
 O'Lynne. A number of gentlemen were waiting to 
 receive him. Pursuit is made, but it fails. Mac Carthy 
 gains the wilds of Muskerry, where he may snap his 
 fingers at the president. 
 
 Donnell O'Sullivan of Dunboy, and his trusty friend, 
 Captain Tirrell, who are still at the head of a con- 
 siderable force among the mountains of Beare, hasten 
 into Muskerry, and offer their assistance. Mac Carthy 
 does not like to refuse, but fears to accept their ser- 
 vices. His eldest son is a prisoner in England ; his 
 wife, younger son and daughter, in close custody in 
 Cork; he therefore resolves to parley with the pre- 
 sident. He writes to the Bishop of Cork, to the Chief 
 Justice, and to Captain Taaffe, to intercede for him. 
 The whole council judged " his suit reasonable " 
 they see Tirrell's soldiers in the background the 
 president, therefore, would not dissent from their 
 " unauime opinion." He meets the president on the 
 21st of October, 1602, and " falling down on his 
 knees" humbly beseeches her majesty's mercy. " The 
 president and council beholding the man, and weigh- 
 ing the words which proceeded from him not without 
 evident testimony of inward grief and unfeigned sor- 
 row although, perad venture, arising, like Esau's 
 tears, from the sense of his loss more than from con- 
 science, or feeling of his folly thought good to receive 
 him into her majesty's grace." 
 
 For this act of grace two reasons are given by Staf-
 
 STATE REASONS. 411 
 
 ford. The first is the apparent reason, the latter the 
 real motive : 
 
 " First, considering the insupportable losse which 
 hee had sustained since his imprisonment, in the taking 
 of two, and burning his third castle, wherein (as being 
 the place of his most especiall abode) his best moove- 
 ables (whereof hee was very well furnished) were con- 
 sumed and burnt ; and that the harvest of his countrey, 
 betweene her majesties forces, and the rebells, (for in 
 the same they had made their abode for a whole 
 moneth) was valued at five thousand pounds, which, 
 as a just punishment, was fallen upon him. 
 
 " Secondly, it was well weighed, what a helpe and 
 courage his combination would have afforded to the 
 rebels, if hee had obstinately run a rebellious course, 
 for hee was at that time the strongest man in followers 
 of any one of the Irish in that province, and his coun- 
 trey in strength and fastnesse equall with the worst 
 part of the same; and that which required no lesse 
 respect was the situation of his countrey, reaching 
 even to the walls of Corke, whereby the greatest part 
 of her majesties forces must, of necessity, have beene 
 employed in Muskerry, which would have given great 
 impediment to the prosecution of the service in other 
 parts, whereas by receiving him the warre would bee 
 removed farther off and the greatest tempest of dis- 
 turbance avoyded. 
 
 " That hee was deepely infected, and fowly stained 
 with manifold treasons was too manifest, yet this dif- 
 ference was made betweene him and others, that they 
 were in publicke action professed traytors, and he a 
 jugling tray tor.
 
 412 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 "Though hee had joined with a forraine enemy, yet 
 not in so hainous a manner as some other, for they 
 solicited strangers to invade the kingdom e, but stran- 
 gers having invaded the kingdome solicited him to 
 partake with them. 
 
 " The three castles (before-mentioned) no doubt 
 were great bridles upon him, and in time (no doubt) 
 would have wrought the effects desired, which was to 
 banish him out of his countrey. Bat considering the 
 charge and incumbrance, subject to some losse, that 
 would grow in victualling of them, and many lewde 
 and unsettled persons ready to joyne with him (if they 
 had perceived him inclinable to continue a rebell) 
 which might have bred newe broyles, and protracted 
 the warres of Mounster in infinitwm. 
 
 "Againe the benefit, that by his prosecution and 
 extirpation might have redounded to her Majesty, was 
 that thereby his land should have excheated unto her, 
 which in the opinion of all wise men would have proved 
 too deare a purchase. 
 
 " Farther, besides his submission and his sonne that 
 was a prisoner in England, his second son, also, and 
 his castle of Blarney, were held as pledges upon him. 
 
 " And whereas the L, Deputie had devised the forme 
 of an oath for the Northern Protectees, he was content 
 to sweare and subscribe to the same oath ; and lastly 
 himselfe with foure of the best barons of parliament in 
 Mounster, were bound in three thousand pounds for 
 his future loyaltie and subjection, so that hee was 
 bound in heaven and in earth, before God and before 
 man, by law and by nature, and nothing but onely hell 
 was remayning for his farther assurance."
 
 413 
 
 But what of that most inveterate rebel, Captain 
 Tirrell? Now or never, says the president, is the time to 
 attack this daring freebooter. The moment he hears 
 of Mac Carthy's submission, he is off among the moun- 
 tains of Kerry. Sir Samuel Bagnall is ordered on his 
 track, and if possible to intercept him, or take him by 
 surprise. He finds Tirrell encamped in the midst of 
 woods and bogs, on the western confines of Muskerry. 
 One of the Mac Carthys of Muskerry, Owen Mac Teige, 
 of Drishane, approaches his wild camp by night, and 
 returns in safety, and informs Bagnall that the enemy 
 is lying in three divisions, with a "strong wood" at 
 their back ; a bog, half an Irish mile wide, in their 
 front ; and " cragged and rocky mountains " on either 
 side. The colonel resolves to attack the three divi- 
 sions together. The night is pitch dark ; the English 
 steal along, within a furlong of the camp ; they have 
 no doubt of surprising it, for all seem sunk in sleep, 
 when a soldier an Irishman, we suspect stumbles, 
 and his gun goes off those sort of accidents often 
 occurred under similar circumstances. The alarm is 
 given ; Tirrell runs away in his shirt, his wife at his 
 heels in no better plight. About eighty of his men 
 are slain. Her majesty's troops not only took the 
 usual spoil of cows, sheep, and horses, but " some 
 remnants of velvet," gold and silver lace, English 
 apparel in satin and velvet, and "a portmanteau," 
 containing a quantity of Spanish coin. Captain Tirrell 
 was as fond of " brave attire " as Sir Walter Raleigh, 
 He was fearfully enraged at the loss of his portman- 
 teau, and all the velvet, satin, gold and silver lace, 
 and Spanish coin it contained, and wreaked his ven-
 
 414 HISTOfiY OF CORK. 
 
 geance on some churls and poor people before he fled 
 to the fastnesses of Desmond and Beare. 
 
 Three months after this he marched with his bon- 
 noughts, or mercenary troops, out of Munster, though 
 strongly entreated to stay by O'Sullivan Beare, from 
 whom he had lately received a great impost of Spanish 
 money. 
 
 William Burke took the command of O'Sullivan's 
 troop in the place of Tirrell, but seeing a number 
 falling away, " cursed and damned himself," for stay- 
 ing so long in Munster, and soon after followed 
 Captain Tirrell into 0' Carroll's country. 
 
 O'Sullivan Beare and 0' Conor Kerry were now the 
 principal leaders of the Irish. 0' Conor Kerry was the 
 intimate friend of the great O'Donnell, who wrote him 
 the following letter from Spain : 
 
 " A letter from O'DONNELL to O'CoNNEE KEEKT. 
 
 " What newes are here, the Doctor and Dennond Odrischal may 
 largely report unto you ; but of this one thing you may bee fully 
 assured ; that the king will not omit the winning of Ireland, if it 
 cost him the most part of Spaine. His Majestie doth send you 
 money and munition. I pray let our enformation of you bee found 
 true, and your service encourage our king to further merit you. I 
 pray you send mee the relation of the newes of our countrey, in such 
 sort, as if there be any bad, it be concealed from the Spaniards, and 
 knowen to me ; where the deputie with the queenes forces are occu- 
 pied, or where they are in garrison. 
 
 " At the Groyne, the foure and twentieth of May, 1602. 
 " Your loving friend, 
 " HUGH 
 
 " To his loving friend O'Connor Kerry, 
 these give in Ireland."
 
 415 
 
 This noble Irish chieftain, whose letter to his friend 
 is so full of hope and confidence, died of anguish of 
 heart and sickness, within four months after penning 
 this epistle. O'Donnell left Castlehaven for Spain on 
 the 6th of January, 1602, and landed at Groyne, 
 near Corunna,* on the 14th. He was nobly received 
 by the Earl of Carazena, and invited to his house, 
 which hospitality he declined, on account of indisposi- 
 tion resulting from sea-sickness; he was therefore 
 lodged in a " faire house not farre" from the earl's. 
 He left Groyne on the 27th, when the earl gave him 
 "his right hand, which, within his government, he 
 would not have done to the greatest duke in Spain ; " 
 ancf at his departure presented him with a thousand 
 ducats. He was received with great honor and mag- 
 nificence by the prelates of St. James of Compostella ; 
 and was visited at St. Martins by the Archbishop, from 
 whose hands he received the sacrament, and a thousand 
 ducats. He was received by the king at Zamna, in 
 the province of Castile. He knelt down before Philip, 
 and would not rise till the king had promised to grant 
 three requests first, to send a well equipped x army 
 with him to Ireland, as soon as possible ; secondly, 
 that when Philip had conquered the country, he would 
 place no O'Donnell, above himself, Hugh; thirdly, 
 that he would never deprive either him or his successors 
 of any of the rights or privileges they derived from 
 their ancestors. The king graciously promised all he 
 required. 
 
 He returned to Corunna, where he waited till Au- 
 
 * Corunna. " He walked through the town, and went to view Dreogarit 
 Tower" from which the Milesians departed in sailing for Ireland. Four Mastert. 
 A.D. 1602.
 
 416 HISTORY OF CORK, 
 
 gust, consumed with anxiety. He can endure the 
 delay no longer he must see the king again. He 
 arrives at Simancas, two leagues from Yalladolid, 
 where Philip held his court. Here the fever of his 
 brain attains its climax ; he sickens, and dies in seven- 
 teen days, on the 10th of September, 1602. His 
 remains are conveyed to the palace of Yalladolid in a 
 hearse, surrounded by a countless number of the state 
 officers, council, and guards. His body lies in the 
 monastery of St. Francis, where he was interred. 
 Luminous torches, bright flambeaux, and beautiful 
 wax-lights are burning round him, 
 
 "Alas!" exclaim the Four Masters, recording his 
 death, "the early eclipse of him who died here is 
 mournful to many. He was the head of the conference 
 and council. He was a mighty and bounteous lord, 
 with the authority of a prince to enforce the law. A 
 lion in strength and force of character; a dove in 
 meekness and gentleness. He was a sweet-sounding 
 trumpet, endowed with the gift of eloquence, and a 
 look of amiability which captivated every one who 
 beheld him." 
 
 O'SullivanBeare and O'Conor Kerry had no longer 
 hope of aid from Spain. If they stay longer in Munster 
 they will be hunted down like famished wolves. 
 
 "O'Sullivan, after having been deprived of this 
 castle [Dunboy], went with his cows, herds, and 
 people, and all his moveables, behind his rugged- 
 topped hills, into the wilds and recesses of his country. 
 The Earl [of Thomond] and his army, and O'Sullivan 
 and his forces, continued shooting and attacking each 
 other until the Christmas time. The two armies were
 
 O'SULLIVAN BEABE LEAVES HTJNSTER. 417 
 
 entrenched and encamped face to face in Gleann Garbh 
 [Glengarriff ], which glen was one of O'Sullivan's most 
 impregnable retreats. His people now began to se- 
 parate from 0' Sullivan secretly without asking his 
 leave. First of all Captain Tyrell went away from 
 him, and he was obliged himself to depart in the 
 Christmas holidays, without the knowledge of, and 
 unperceived by the earl." 
 
 They travelled the first night from Glengarriff to 
 Ballyvourney, in West Muskerry ; the second night 
 to the barony of Duhallow ; the third night to Ard- 
 patrick, in the county of Limerick, and so on to the 
 Shannon, but not without fighting their way, and the 
 loss of a few men. 
 
 " As they passed the skirts of Muskerry, they were 
 skirmished withall by the sonnes of Teg Mac Owen 
 Cartie, where they lost some of their men, and most of 
 their carriage. In passing by Liscarcell, John Barry, 
 brother to the Yiscount, with eight horsemen and 
 fourty foote, charged their reare, at the ford of Bel- 
 laghan, where he slew and hurt many of them, and of 
 his part one horseman was slaine," 
 
 They crossed the Shannon in boats made from the 
 hides of their horses.* They were assailed on the 
 opposite bank of the river by the Sheriff of Tipperary ; 
 and further north by Sir Thomas Burke, (brother to 
 the Earl of Clanricard) and Captain Henry Malby, the 
 latter of whom they slew, and passed without further 
 impediment into O'Rourke's country, or the county 
 Leitrim. 
 
 *The hides of horses. " They killed many of their horses, and made shift with 
 their hides to make certainc little boats, called by the Irish nevogs, [naebhog] in 
 the which they transported their men and baggage." Pac. 2Iib., p. 
 
 28
 
 418 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 " Neverthelesse before all were past the river the 
 sherife of the county of Typperarie, fell upon their 
 reare and slew many of them. Being in Connaught 
 they passed safely through the county of Galway, 
 untill they came into the Kellies countrey, where they 
 were fought withall by Sir Thomas Burke, the Earle 
 of Clanriccard's brother, and Captain Henry Malby, 
 who were more in number then the rebels, Never- 
 thelesse when they saw that either they must make 
 their way by the sword or perish, they gave a brave 
 charge upon our men, in the which Captaine "Malby 
 was slaine, upon whose fall Sir Thomas and his troopes 
 fainting, with the losse of many men, studied their 
 safeties by flight, and the rebels with little harme 
 marched into Orwyke's country." 
 
 When Sir Charles Wilmot entered the camp which 
 O'Sullivan had deserted in Beare, " he found nothing 
 but hurt and sick men, whose paines and lives, by the 
 soldiers, were both terminated. Hereupon Sir Charles, 
 with the English regiments, overran all Beare and 
 Bantry, destroying all that they could find meet ior 
 the relief of man, so that the country was wholly 
 wasted." They were themselves the first to suffer for 
 this inhuman barbarity. " The sharpnesse of this 
 winter journey did exceedingly weaken our companies; 
 for the mountains of Beare being at that time quite 
 covered with snow, tested the strong bodies, whereby 
 many returned sicke, and some, unable to endure the 
 extreamity, dyed standing centinnell," 
 
 We shall conclude the account of this most unhappy 
 and terrific civil and religious war, with a scene in 
 Carbery, where the Catholic bi&hop of Eoss was slain :
 
 DEATH OF OWEN MAC EGAN. 419 
 
 "Understanding that the sonnes of Sir Owen Mac 
 Cartie, and Donnogh Keugh, brother to Florence Mac 
 Cartie, were retyred with their creates and followers 
 into the strengths of Carbery, his lordship commanded 
 Captaine Taaffe, (with the said risings out) fourtie of 
 Sir Edward Wingsfield's company, and his owne troop 
 of horse, to draw into those parts, and to endeavour the 
 best service hee could upon them. Whilest the rest 
 were busied by the Governour of Kerry in Desmond, 
 as aforesaid, wherein it pleased God to give him good 
 successe, for on the fifth of January, his foote entering 
 their fastnesse, took a prey of two or three hundred 
 eowes and garrans ; the rebels in pursuit of their cattle 
 gave them so brave a charge, as they were disordered, 
 whereby some of them were slaine, which Captaine 
 Taaffe perceiving, being in the head of his horse troope 
 in the skirt of the fastnesse, and espying some of their 
 horsemen to doe much hurt upon our foote, charged 
 them into the wood, slew foure of their horsemen, and 
 put all the rest to route, wherewith our men being 
 encouraged, pursued them. 
 
 " Owen Mac Egan, the Pope's Apostolike Vicar, so 
 often before mentioned, to put fresh heart into his 
 company, with his sword drawne in one hand, and his 
 portius and beades in the other, with one hundred men 
 led by himselfe, came boldly up to the sword, and 
 mainetayned a hot skirmish, until hee was slaine with 
 a shot, whereupon his men (together with a fresh 
 charge of our horse) were so amazed and terrified, 
 partly by his death, and partly by their owne danger, 
 that they brake instantly, and for better expedition 
 throwing away their armes, leaped into the river Ban-
 
 420 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 don, hoping by that meanes to escape, but that little 
 availed them, for they all for the most part were either 
 killed or drowned in the river. 
 
 " There were slaine in this service (besides Owen 
 Mac Egan, who was of more worth then all the rest) 
 above one hundred and twenty rebels, and of the pro- 
 vinciall rising out of our part a good number lost their 
 lives, and many of Captain Taaffe's horses hurt. Wee 
 got the armes of a hundred and fourtie, and all their 
 horses, cowes, sheepe and garranes that were in the 
 countrey neere adjoyning. There was also taken a 
 Papist Priest, being as it seemed a Chaplaine to Mac 
 Egan, whom the president (shortly after) caused to be 
 executed in Corke." 
 
 This most inexorable president, upon his return to 
 Cork, employed messengers to seize Mac Egan's 
 papers, which Stafford says, "fell to my share." They 
 consisted for the most part, of books of school divinity 
 and a bull of Pope Clement YIIL, " DaV Romce, apud 
 Sanctum Petrum anno Incarnationis Domini 1595." 
 Mac Egan must have been invested with the authority 
 described in the bull for seven years before his death. 
 
 Stafford paints the character of this bishop in the 
 darkest colors : 
 
 " A principall meanes of this suddaine and universall 
 reduction, was the death of that traitorly priest, Owen 
 Mac Egan, which doubtlesse was more beneficiall to 
 the state then to have gotten the head of the most 
 capitall rebell in Mounster, for the respect that was 
 borne unto him (by reason of his authority from the 
 Pope and the credit which hee had obtained in Spaine) 
 was so great, as his power was in a manner absolute
 
 OWEN MACEGAN'S GREAT POWER. 421 
 
 over them all, and he onely was the meanes of their 
 obdurate obstinacie ; his dignity in being the Pope's 
 Vicarius Apostolicus, did hold them in vassalage unto 
 :iim, and the livings given him in Munster by the 
 Pope's grant were to be valued (if hee might quietly 
 have enjoyed them) at three thousand pounds per 
 annum. 
 
 " And farther to engage the Popish clergy of Ireland 
 unto him, hee had power to dispose at his pleasure of 
 all the spiritual! livings in the province of Mounster, 
 by which authority, together with the credit he had 
 gotten with the King of Spaine (well testified by the 
 trust committed to him in transporting and disposing 
 the Spanish money, last brought into Ireland) he had 
 obtayned in a manner all power, both over the tem- 
 porality and spirituality of Mounster, and to depaint 
 him in his true colours, a more malitious traytor 
 against the State and Crown e of England, never 
 breathed, which well appeared by the barbarous 
 tyranny hee exercised upon his owne countriemen ; 
 for as soone as any prisoners were taken, though of 
 his owne countrey, birth, and religion, yet if they had 
 served the queene, he caused them first, in piety, as 
 he pretended, to bee confessed and absolved, and in- 
 stantly, in his owne sight, would hee cause them to 
 bee murdered, which religious tyranny in him was 
 held for sanctity." 
 
 The author or editor of the Pacata Hibernia has 
 given no data to substantiate these charges of cruelty. 
 Mac Egan's letter to Master Eichard Mac Geoghegan,* 
 
 * Mac Geoghegan and Mac Egan were originally the same name. Master 
 Bichard may have been a relative of the churchman.
 
 422 HISTORY OF COEK. 
 
 the constable of Dunboy, is not only genial, kind, and 
 cheerful and these are not the traits of a cruel man 
 but sincerely pious, " I cannot but expect much, 
 with God's assistance, in that lawful and godly cause." 
 Then the conclusion, " In my sacrifice, and other poor 
 prayers, I will not fail to commend you and your good 
 cause to God;" and his "Nisi Dominus custodierit 
 civitatem " Except the Lord keep the city and then 
 his death ! It is only to be regretted that men like 
 Owen Mac Egan should persevere, when all reasonable 
 hopes of success have departed. Both the English and 
 Irish Armada had failed. Every stronghold in Mun- 
 ster was in the hands of the Irish government. A 
 rising in Carbery, under such circumstances, was 
 simple madness. All was irretrievably gone. Per- 
 haps Owen Mac Egan felt that it was so, and did not 
 care to outlive it ; that, like some brave captain, he re- 
 solved to go down with the ship he commanded. Those 
 days produced men of desperate courage. But many 
 an honest man would prefer sinking with Mac Egan, 
 to swimming with Sir George Carew, knight, Lord 
 President of Munster. 
 
 Sir George is now prepared to write his Pacata 
 Hibernia. He may write it in blood as far as Munster 
 is concerned, for it lies as still as dead men can make 
 it. But the contrary of all this was reported, to Carew' s 
 very great annoyance. " About this time it was 
 vulgarly reported in England, by some who had their 
 tongues pointed with slander, and their hearts stuffed 
 with malice, that Munster was newly burning with 
 fresh flames of rebellion ; that the Viscount Roch, the 
 Lord of Cahyr, and Cormock Mac Dermond, had
 
 DEPARTURE OF SIR GEORGE CAREW. 423 
 
 entered into open hostility, and that Tirrell was come 
 again into the province, and had taken the prey of 
 Mallow from the garrison at noon day. Although 
 the world may be satisfied concerning these slan- 
 derous reports, by that which hath been already 
 delivered, yet to give more particular satisfaction to 
 all, or to any that should make question hereof, the 
 Lord Eoch was never touched with the least spot of 
 disloyalty against her majesty; yea, such loyal con- 
 stancy did he always embrace and practise, that in the 
 universal inundation of treasons, when all the province 
 in general, and his father in particular, did combine 
 against their anointed sovereign, at that time and ever 
 since, did he continue himself within the lists of an 
 obedient subject." 
 
 The statement concerning my Lord Cahir was equally 
 false. As for Cormac Mac Dermot of Blarney, he had 
 lost thirty of his best men in her majesty's service. 
 Sir George may therefore take his departure with a 
 quiet conscience, for a dog would scarcely venture to 
 bark in this wide province. 
 
 And never sea - sick mariner, in a tempestuous 
 storm, more desired his wished-for harbour, nor virgin 
 bride, her nuptial morn, than Sir George to see the 
 queen, and "kiss the shadowes of her royal feet." 
 He knows not that these royal feet are on the very 
 borders of the Land of the shadow of Death. But 
 he delays in order to appoint Sir Charles Wilmot 
 and Sir George Thornton joint Commissioners for 
 the government of the province. He left Cork in 
 February, 1603, remained about three weeks in Dublin, 
 and on the 20th of March sailed for Beaumaris. He
 
 424 HISTORY OF CORK. 
 
 arrived in Chester in time to hear the first report of the 
 queen's death. But he cheers up by the time he gets 
 to Litchfield, where he assists the mayor in proclaiming 
 King James, " which gave him new life." Sir George 
 had learned to worship the rising as well as the setting 
 sun. We do not know nor do we care to inquire, 
 for we are only too happy to drop his acquaintance 
 how many years he served for his new title of Lord 
 Totnes. So cool and cruel, so cunning and unknightly 
 a ruler never came to Ireland. "We have his effigy in 
 the Pacata Hibernia a book written by a man who 
 worshipped him as his Magnus Apollo and a more 
 sinister countenance we never beheld. We have no 
 objection to adopt the former part of the circumscrip- 
 tion for the words go round the picture " Talis erat 
 vultu, sed lingua^ menfe, manu /" 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 PfclKTED BT OUT BEOTHEEfc, ACAl>EJfTr 8TEKET, CORK.
 
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