Ireland under the Tudors, with a Succinct Account of the Earlier History. Vol. 1 (of 3)

Many rebels executed

Skeffington, having awoke to the fact that Ireland could not be subdued by an army which never left Dublin, allowed Maunsell and Brereton to divide their forces and to burn most of the Geraldine villages, including Maynooth. While gaining strength himself he had the satisfaction of ordering several executions in Dublin. Brode, who was called the traitor’s admiral; Rookes, who was captured near Wexford with some of the royal ordnance in his possession; a third rover named Purcell, who had been bold enough to cut a vessel out of the Thames; and Travers, Chancellor of St. Patrick’s, who had been an agent in the attempted reduction of Dublin, were all duly hanged, drawn, and quartered on Oxmantown Green.[143 - Alen to Cromwell, Feb. 16, 1535; Stanihurst.]

Maynooth Castle summoned. The siege

Brereton summoned Maynooth Castle, proposing to let the garrison depart with bag and baggage, and offering pardons and rewards. But they trusted in their walls, and answered only with taunts and jeers. At last Skeffington left Dublin and encamped before the castle, which he invested closely the next day. He pronounced it to be the strongest fortress which had ever been in Ireland since the English first set foot there. No detailed account of the armament has been preserved, but there were several pieces of cannon and a garrison of over 100, of whom about one-half were gunners. Christopher Paris, the Earl’s foster-brother, commanded within the castle. Skeffington’s batteries opened on the third day after his arrival, and soon silenced the guns on the north-west side of the keep. The guns were then pointed against a new work on the northern side, and after five days’ bombardment the breach was pronounced practicable. Paris, who probably despaired of maintaining his post, now thought it time to make separate terms for himself, and shot out a letter in which he offered to sell his post for money. The garrison were accordingly allowed to sally forth and to capture a small piece of artillery. Paris pretended great satisfaction, and served out abundant liquor to his men, who proceeded to celebrate their triumph by getting drunk. In the first grey light of morning the outwork was occupied almost without resistance, and the warders were aroused from their slumbers by shouts of ‘St. George! St. George!’ Ladders were quickly planted against the walls of the keep, and the storming party began to ascend. Captain Holland, who was one of the first to reach the parapet, jumped down into a tub of feathers, but Brereton’s company had scaled the walls at another place, and the Geraldines, completely surprised and only half sober, made but a short stand. An arrow was discharged at Holland, the weight of whose armour kept him fast in the feathers, but it missed him, and he was released in time to take an active part in the final struggle. Brereton himself ran up to the highest turret and hoisted a flag, which told the Lord-Deputy that all was over.[144 - Stanihurst; Lord Deputy and Council to the King, March 26.]

Maynooth taken. Story of Paris

When Skeffington entered in the evening two singing-men of the Earl’s chapel prostrated themselves before him, plaintively chanting a hymn or song called ‘Dulcis amica,’ which affected the victors as the verses of Euripides affected the Dorians at Syracuse. They were pardoned, and Paris then came forward to claim his reward. Skeffington allowed that he had been useful, and promised that the King would not let him starve; he then asked what confidence the Earl of Kildare placed in his foster-brother, and Paris enumerated the benefits which he had received from the fallen family. ‘Couldst thou,’ said the Deputy sternly, ‘find in thine heart to betray his castle who has been so good to thee? Truly, thou that art so hollow to him wilt never be true to us.’ Then turning to his officers he ordered them to pay down the stipulated price, and to execute the traitor forthwith. ‘My lord,’ said the wretched man, ‘had I wist you would have dealt so straitly with me, your lordship should not have won this fort with so little bloodshed as you did.’ Among the bystanders was James Boys, formerly Constable of Maynooth, who had resigned his office at the breaking out of the rebellion, but who may have sympathised with his old employers, and who muttered ‘too late’ in Irish, a saying which became proverbial for an ineffectual repentance. Paris was executed, and it does not appear that he had been promised pardon, but Skeffington’s action was neither honest nor politic. He had profited by the treason, and to kill the traitor could only tend to make other rebels desperate. About forty other prisoners were taken, of whom twenty-five were executed, including the Dean of Kildare and another priest named Walsh. It appeared from the depositions of one prisoner, a priest, that there had been negotiations with the Emperor, who held out hopes of 10,000 men, and also with the King of Scots. The ‘pardon of Maynooth’ became a proverbial expression for the gallows.[145 - Ware; Stanihurst; the Lord-Deputy and Council to the King, March 26. The official despatch does not mention the negotiation with Paris, but I see no reason to disbelieve Stanihurst. ‘Too late, quoth Boys,’ became proverbial.]

The Irish fall away from Kildare

Kildare had in the meantime succeeded in raising an army of 7,000 men among the O’Connors of Offaly and in Connaught, but the news that Maynooth had fallen almost dispersed it. With the men who remained he advanced to Clane, where he came into collision with Skeffington, who took 140 prisoners and put them to the sword, on a renewal of the fight being threatened. Kildare then went into Thomond, intending to sail for Spain, but sent James Delahide and Robert Walsh, the parish priest of Loughseedy, in his stead. These messengers joined Power at Cadiz, but did not obtain an interview with Charles until after their chief’s execution. Power was pardoned at the Emperor’s request, but the others were attainted by name. Kildare’s allies now gradually dropped away. O’More and MacMurrough gave security to Ossory, and the Earl’s followers dwindled daily, though he continued to roam about in the neighbourhood of his ancestral estates. Maynooth was too strong to attempt, but he twice took Rathangan, so that no Englishman would take charge of it; and Skeffington was forced to entrust it to Sir James Fitzgerald. After this, Kildare drove a herd of cattle under the walls, and by the hope of booty drew out a great part of the garrison, whom he cut to pieces. On one occasion, he destroyed part of the garrison of Trim by putting forward some English troopers, who pretended to be Salisbury’s men; and on another, he almost succeeded in capturing a large convoy near Naas. But such stratagems could not long delay the end, and the Irish saw that the game was up. O’Neill came to Skeffington at Drogheda, and took the oath of allegiance. It was agreed among other things that any O’Neill who did wrong within the obedient districts might be tried by English law, and that homicides should not be compounded by money payments;[146 - ‘Quæ vulgariter dicitur a saulte.’] but the King’s subjects taken in O’Neill’s country were to be reserved for the royal consideration, and not punished capitally by the chief. O’Neill was to receive his customary black-rent, but none of his clans were to levy Irish exactions,[147 - Coyne and livery, cuddies, kernaghts, ‘vel talia poculenta.’] or to graze cattle in the English districts. All Englishmen were to enjoy free trade with Tyrone, and O’Neill undertook to help Skeffington in his hostings in as ample a manner as any of his predecessors had helped any previous Lord-Deputy or Lord-Lieutenant.[148 - The indenture is dated July 26, 1535.]

But Skeffington makes little progress

O’More, an able man, who was anxious to deserve well of his new friends, accompanied Brabazon into the wastes of Allen, where Kildare was lurking. After the usual plundering, he advised the Englishmen to turn as if in full retreat, but, in reality, to occupy all the passes, while the O’Mores engaged the Earl’s party in the plain. But the Northumberland moss-troopers under Dacre and Musgrave had not forgotten their old habits, and made off with the booty, leaving an unguarded pass, through which the Geraldines escaped.[149 - Aylmer and Alen to Cromwell, Aug. 21.] The O’Mores would not kill Kildare’s men, but were very active against the O’Connors; indeed, the Earl was believed to have been in O’More’s hands for a time, and to have been purposely released. But Brabazon took Burnell of Balgriffin, one of the original advisers of the rebellion, and William Keatinge, captain of the Keatinge kerne, who had hitherto been the rebels’ chief strength. The latter was released on giving security, but Burnell was reserved for the scaffold. The remarkable unfitness of Skeffington for the post in which Henry maintained him was strikingly shown at this time. He was unable to stir from Maynooth, and seemed half dead if he rose before ten or eleven o’clock. Marauding bands came with impunity to the castle gates, and stole the Deputy’s horses; and he allowed the army to lie in the open country without orders, and to consume provisions instead of fighting. The sick man was jealous of Lord Leonard Grey, the marshal of the army, whom rumour had designated as his successor; he was himself incapable of action, and was unwilling to let others act in his stead.[150 - Grey to Cromwell, August 15. Aylmer and Alen to Cromwell, Aug. 21 and 26.]

Surrender of Kildare

Before his release Keatinge undertook to drive the Geraldine chief out of Kildare. The wretched peasants crept back to their fields to save what was left of the harvest; and Cahir O’Connor, who saw how things were likely to end, came to Grey and Brabazon, and took an oath to defend the King’s interests against Kildare, and against his own brother. The Earl had a stronghold in a boggy wood near Rathangan, fortified with earthworks and wet ditches, and almost impregnable had it been well manned and armed. Not being defended it was easily taken, and whatever would burn was burned. At last Skeffington felt well enough to take the field, and advanced with Grey and Butler to the borders of Offaly. Despairing of the cause, and anxious to save his harvest, O’Connor came in and submitted to the Lord Deputy at Castle Jordan; and Kildare, finding himself alone, then surrendered to Butler and Grey in the presence of three witnesses. Skeffington positively asserts that no condition was made, ‘either of pardon, life, land, or goods;’ and this is confirmed by a despatch from the Council sent three days later and signed by Lords Butler and Delvin, Rawson, Prior of Kilmainham, Saintloo, Brabazon, Aylmer, Salisbury, and Sir Rice Maunsell, the last two having been present at the surrender. But the councillors admitted that ‘comfortable words were spoken to Thomas to allure him to yield,’ and begged the King to spare his life according to the comfort of those words.[151 - Skeffington to the King, Aug. 24; the Council of Ireland to the King, Aug. 27.]

The surrender was unconditional

A great effort was made to cause a belief in England that the surrender was conditional, but it does not appear that the prisoner himself made any such assertion. He wrote to his connection Grey, confessing himself a rebel, but urging that he had done all by the advice of Thomas Eustace and Sir Gerald MacShane. He begged intercession for his life and lands: failing the efficacy of such aid, he had, he said, only to shift for himself as he best could. Writers favourable to the Geraldines have nevertheless stated that he was promised his life, and this has been copied into a long succession of popular manuals. Even at the time, the legal mind of Lord Chancellor Audeley refused to believe that the Irish Council had so dealt ‘with so errant and cankered a traitor.’ ‘If this,’ he added, ‘be intended that he should have mercy, I marvel much that divers of the King’s Council in Ireland have so largely told the King, afore this time, that there should never be good peace or order in Ireland till the blood of the Garrolds were wholly extinct. And it was also said that the Irishmen spared their effectual diligence in the persecution of him, because they heard that he should have pardon, and then he would revenge; and now it seemeth they would procure him mercy. They be people of a strange nature and much inconstancy.’[152 - Audeley to Cromwell, i. S.P., p. 466; Stanihurst; Four Masters.]

Kildare is sent to England;

In writing his thanks to Skeffington the King regrets that Kildare’s capture had not been ‘after such a sort as was convenable to his deservings’ – alluding to the report that conditions had been made with him. The letter is worthy of Elizabeth at her best, and very creditable to Henry, who declares his unabated confidence in Skeffington, and promises to make every allowance for his age and infirmities. As to the disposal of the prisoner, not only Audeley but Norfolk, who spoke from the fulness of his Irish experience, thought he should be sent to the Tower and executed in due course, ‘except it should appear that by his keeping alive there should grow any knowledge of treasons, or other commodity to the King’s grace.’ The Duke advised a long respite, lest Lord Butler and Lord Leonard Grey should lose all their credit in Ireland. The Chancellor wished to proceed in the King’s Bench under the new Statute of Treasons, by which he considered that such offences, though committed in Ireland, might be tried in an English shire. Had this opinion finally prevailed, modern Ireland might be easier to govern than it ever seems likely to be. Both Norfolk and Audeley allude to the report that Kildare had been promised his life, but neither they nor the King confirm it.[153 - The King to Skeffington, ii. S.P., p. 280; Audeley to Cromwell, i. S.P., p. 146; Norfolk to Cromwell, September 9, 1535.]

and harshly treated in the Tower

An account is extant showing that twenty shillings a week were allowed for Kildare’s maintenance in the Tower, but intercepted letters tell of great harshness. His object in writing was to borrow 20l. from O’Brien, who had his plate, and he urged that chief to help the Deputy as the best means of helping him. ‘I never,’ he wrote to a trusty servant, ‘had any money since I came into prison but a noble, nor I have had neither hosen, doublet, nor shoes, nor shirt but one; nor any other garments, but a single frieze gown, for a velvet furred with budge, and so I have gone woolward, and barefoot and barelegged, divers times (when it hath not been very warm), and so I should have done still, and now, but that poor prisoners, of their gentleness, hath sometimes given me old hosen, and shoes, and old shirts.’ For sixteen months the rash young man endured this misery, and then, an Irish Act of attainder having passed in the meantime, he and his five uncles were carried to Tyburn and there duly hanged, drawn, and quartered.[154 - Feb. 3, 1537. The letter to Rothe (enclosing that to O’Brien) is in S.P. ii., p. 402.]

The Desmonds and MacCarthies

Having followed the fortunes of the House of Kildare until their great eclipse, we may now turn to the southern Geraldines, who had also entered upon the slippery paths of rebellion. The dispute between Desmond and Ormonde was of old standing, the real cause of it being the fact that Munster was not large enough to hold two such families. In 1520 Surrey brought about a meeting at Waterford between James, the eleventh Earl of Desmond, and Sir Piers Butler. They were solemnly sworn to keep the peace and to help each other on lawful occasions. Cormac Oge MacCarthy, Lord of Muskerry, and MacCarthy Reagh, who had allied themselves with the Butlers as a defence against their great neighbours’ oppressions, were parties to this agreement. Surrey took hostages from them, and reported that they were wise men and more conformable than some Englishmen. If the King would undertake to protect them, he thought that they and many other Irishmen would be content to hold their lands of him. The peace was short; for Desmond no sooner got back to his own country than he proceeded to waste Muskerry with fire and sword. The two MacCarthies joined their forces, and a pitched battle was fought at Mourne Abbey, near Mallow. Cormac Oge placed the cavalry under the command of his sister’s husband, Thomas Moyle Fitzgerald, who was Desmond’s uncle and heir presumptive; and to his charge the Geraldine partisans of course attribute the result. The Earl was totally defeated: ‘and of this overthrow,’ wrote the family historian more than a century later, ‘the Irish to this day do brag, not remembering how often both before and after they received the like measure from the Geraldines.’[155 - Surrey to Wolsey, Nov. 3, 1520; Russell; O’Daly, chap. ix. The latter writer is hopelessly wrong, and makes Thomas Moyle fight on Desmond’s side.]

Desmond intrigues with Francis I., 1523

Two years after the fight at Mourne Abbey Desmond was in secret communication with Francis I., the Constable Bourbon having at the same time similar relations with Henry VIII. The French King sent two agents to Ireland – Francis de Candolle, Lord of Oisy, who afterwards appears as having a relationship or connection with Desmond, and Francis de Bergagni. They met the Earl at Askeaton, and made a convention with him. Desmond agreed to make war on the King, provided that his father-in-law Tirlough O’Brien and others of that clan should be included in any peace made between England and France. Francis rather oddly undertook to send ships to help Desmond in collecting tribute from his subjects. The Earl and his seneschal David MacMorris were promised French pensions, and both Geraldines and O’Briens were encouraged to expect French help in any emergency. Richard de la Pole, Edward IV.’s exiled nephew, was to be set up against Henry, and Desmond undertook to support the Pretender with 400 horse and 10,000 foot, which were to remain under his command. If he succeeded in raising 15,000 foot Francis agreed to pay two angelots a month for every fully armed man, and one angelot for every kerne. Kinsale, Cork, or Youghal was to be held by the French, and Desmond promised to use his exertions in providing them with horses. The convention was ratified at St. Germain-en-Laye, but nothing whatever came of it. Had there been any good understanding between Desmond and the Scots who were threatening Ulster, a powerful diversion might have been effected; but the Earl seems to have had no higher object than the enhancement of his own local authority. Some years later a bill was prepared for the attainder of Desmond in the Irish Parliament, which recited his treason in giving aid and comfort to Frenchmen while France and England were at war. But no Parliament was then held, and Desmond died unattainted.[156 - He is generally stated to have died June 18, 1529, but he was alive Sept. 12 in that year. For his intrigues with Francis see Wise to Cromwell, July 12, 1534, and the Cotton MS. quoted there; Brewer, vol. iii., No. 3118. The abortive Bill of attainder is calendared under Oct. 1528.]

The Butlers and the Desmond Geraldines

During his short administration after Surrey’s departure Sir Piers Butler, who had heard of Desmond’s dealings with France, invaded his country with the consent of many loyal Geraldines. The port towns closed their gates to the rebellious Earl, who turned upon Tipperary, and occupied the strong castle of Cahir, the same which afterwards delayed Essex and thus contributed to his fall. The Deputy hastened to the spot, and seized the bridge leading to the fortified island; but the bridge on the other side remained open and Desmond escaped. After this the O’Briens, whom many supposed to be instigated by Kildare, laid a trap for Sir Piers very like that in which his famous grandson was long afterwards caught. A parley was proposed at the ford of Camus on the Suir, and thither, according to his own account, Butler repaired with a slender escort and the most pacific intentions. The O’Briens, who were hidden in a wood, suddenly rushed out and attacked him, but his men fought bravely and killed Teig O’Brien, the chief’s son, ‘of all men of his age the most dreaded by his enemies.’ The Ormonde district at this time lay open on account of a bridge which the O’Briens had lately built over the Shannon, and one of the complaints against Kildare was that he had not helped Sir Piers to destroy this bridge.[157 - Articles alleged by Ormonde against Kildare, Brewer, vol. iv., No. 1352 (2). Ware; Four Masters, 1523.]

Their disputes about Dungarvan

A war without much plan or apparent purpose continued to rage for years between the Butlers and the southern Geraldines. In 1527 James Butler wrote to his father, who was then in England, giving him an account of certain intrigues and disturbances, and telling him plainly that it was folly trying to look after Irish affairs in London. He who would do the King service must do it on the spot. Sir John Fitzgerald of Decies, who had taken part against the head of his house, and had in consequence lost much cattle and seen many farm-houses in flames, watched his opportunity, and shut up Desmond in Dungarvan. Here he was joined by Butler, and by the Earl’s cousin, Thomas Fitzgerald of Decies; but the castle defied anything short of a regular siege. Butler had a horse shot under him, but a sally was unsuccessful, and Desmond thought it prudent to take the sea with forty men. He sailed into Youghal upon the flood-tide, and Dungarvan then offered to surrender to Sir Thomas Fitzgerald. Butler refused to allow this, and Sir Thomas then joined his cousin, who had begun to ravage his lands about Youghal. The prey having escaped, Dungarvan was not thought worth any further immediate trouble; but a grant of the offices of governor, constable, and steward of the place was soon afterwards passed to Sir Piers Butler on his being created Earl of Ossory. The condition was imposed that the new Earl should seek to recover Dungarvan out of Desmond’s possession.[158 - James Butler to his father, Brewer, vol. iv., No. 3698; to the King, ib. 3699. Cormac Oge to the King, ib. 5084; to Wolsey, ib. 4933. Sir Thomas Fitzgerald to – ib. 3922. Archbishop Inge to Wolsey, Feb. 23, 1528.]

Desmond immigration into Wales

The rebel seems to have been a man of large ideas. He had the Archbishop of Cashel, a natural son of Ossory, to watch over his interests at Court, and something amounting almost to an Irish invasion of England took place under his auspices. In twelve months the almost incredible number of 20,000 Irishmen are said to have landed in Pembrokeshire – that little England beyond Wales whence the ancestors of the Geraldines had first sailed to Ireland. They spread themselves over the country about Milford Haven and between St. David’s and Tenby, and the very corporation of the latter town came under Irish influence. A townsman had two large heavily armed ships manned by Irishmen: he was himself Welsh, but he would have neither Welshman nor Englishman on board. Throughout the country side Irishmen outnumbered the natives in the proportion of four to one, and many Irish vessels frequented the coast, and were employed in trade or piracy, or in a mixture of both. Nearly all the men they brought were from Desmond’s country, and it is probable that he had a share of the profits, and that he was thus enabled to keep up the contest on land.[159 - R. Cowley, ii. S.P., 141; R. Griffiths to Wolsey, in Brewer, vol. iv., Nos. 3372 and 4485.]

Desmond intrigues with Charles V

The adventurous Earl had gained nothing by his alliance with France; but he did not abandon the hope of foreign intervention in Ireland, and sent a present of Irish hawks and wolf-hounds to Charles V. The gifts were in charge of a trusty messenger, who landed at St. Sebastian and hastened to the Imperial Court at Toledo. Wolsey’s emissaries were accurately informed of these movements, and one who lived at Renteria recommended that a royal cruiser should be sent to intercept the ambassador on his return. The man himself lacked discretion, for he showed his despatches to the papal collector at Valladolid, and their contents thus became known to the English agents. Desmond’s great wish was for artillery, which would have placed nearly every castle in Munster at his mercy. Glad to find any means of annoying a King who desired to repudiate his aunt, Charles sent a gold cup to Desmond, and soon afterwards despatched his chaplain Gonzalo Fernandez to Ireland. Fernandez, who spoke very good English, was instructed to make himself thoroughly acquainted with Desmond’s resources, and to offer help if he thought it advisable. He was authorised to promise that the Earl should be included in any treaties which might be made between the Emperor and Henry VIII., and to explain that his master had always been most anxious for the English King’s friendship. Notwithstanding his former good offices Henry had made an alliance with France, and now sought to divorce his Queen and to give the Duchy of Ireland to his bastard in disparagement of the Princess Mary. Such proceedings Charles was determined firmly to resist.[160 - J. Batcock to – in Brewer, vol. iv., No. 4878; Sylvester Darius to Wolsey, ib. 4911; Ghinucci and Lee to Wolsey, ib. 4948; Lee to Henry VIII., ib. 5002. The instructions to Fernandez are in Carew, Feb. 24, 1529 (wrongly calendared under 1530).]

Mission of Gonzalo Fernandez to Ireland, 1529

Fernandez left Toledo on March 3, the Spanish Government giving out that he had gone to England to recover debts due to the Emperor. He had returned by April 28. On his way out he touched at Cork, where many persons visited his ship, and he gathered from their conversation that Desmond was not popular there. After this he was driven into Berehaven, whence he wrote to the Earl; and in four days he received an answer directed to him as chaplain to ‘our sovereign lord the Emperor,’ Desmond striving to assume the position of an Imperial feudatory, instead of that of an English subject. Fernandez then sailed to Dingle, and before he could land Desmond sent six gentlemen on board to ask his help in capturing certain English and French vessels which lay near, probably at Ventry or Smerwick. Desmond had already sent his galleys, and was going with 500 men to support them by land. The Spaniard, with a more exact idea of an ambassador’s duties than the potentate to whom he was accredited, prudently excused himself. Desmond evidently did not wish Fernandez to visit any of his castles, and preferred to meet him at the water’s edge. Anxious to appear a powerful independent prince, he was probably unwilling that the Spaniards should see the nakedness of the land and his own rude way of life; and perhaps he shrunk from accumulating evidence against himself in case submission to his lawful sovereign should after all become expedient.[161 - Fernandez to Charles V. in Brewer, vol. iv. No. 5323; Ghinucci and Lee to Wolsey, ib. 5423; Lee to Wolsey, April 19, 1529, ib. 5469; Desmond’s Memorandum for the Emperor, April 28, ib. 5501; Froude’s Pilgrim.]

Fernandez in Munster with Desmond

On April 21 Fernandez disembarked. He was well received by the inhabitants and by Desmond himself, who had 500 horse and as many gallowglasses with him. The Earl asked after the Emperor’s health, and again called him his sovereign lord. Fernandez read his commission first in English. Desmond then requested that it might be repeated in Latin for the benefit of his Council, and when it was finished he took off his cap and thanked the Emperor for his gracious condescension, adding the reflection that his Majesty was placed on earth to prevent one prince from injuring another. His evident design was to acknowledge the supremacy of the Empire over all the kingdoms of the world, and at the same time to place himself on a level with the King of England, from whom he held his lands, his title, and his jurisdiction. Desmond then discharged the congenial duty of magnifying himself and his ancestors. He was, he said, descended from Brito, who lawfully conquered the great and the small Britain, and reduced Ireland and Scotland under his yoke. It had been prophesied that an Earl of Desmond should conquer England, and this kept the English in a constant state of tremor. The fear of its fulfilment had caused the beheading of Earl Thomas by Lord Deputy Tiptoft, and Richard, ‘son of the King of England,’ had invaded Ireland on account of his father’s enmity with the reigning King. Afterwards that Earl had conquered all Ireland, ‘some few towns only excepted.’ The King of England caused the Earl of Kildare to be destroyed in prison, until his kinsman of Desmond forcibly liberated him and made him Viceroy of Ireland. In twenty-four years, during which he had been stirring up both English and Irish, first to kill Desmond’s father and afterwards to make war on himself, the King of England had gained no advantage. The Earl’s servants trading in France and Flanders had been imprisoned and despoiled of 9,000l. by the English King’s orders. Fernandez prudently demanded that this extraordinary farrago should be written down. It is very fortunate that he was unable to retain it in his memory, for no amount of mere English evidence could give us such a measure of a Desmond’s pride, or of the nonsense which rhymers or Brehons could venture to put into a Desmond’s head.[162 - Same authorities. Writing later to Charles V. (Sept. 2, Brewer, iv. 5938) Desmond increases his loss by Henry’s malpractices to 100,000l., and says he holds the chief power in all Irish harbours from the furthest point of Kerry to Waterford.]

Desmond’s proposals to the Emperor

The Geraldine addressed Charles V. as most invincible and most sacred Cæsar, ever august; and described himself as Earl of Desmond, Lord of Decies, of O’Gunnell, and of the liberty of Kerry. He first asked for four vessels of 200 tons each, and six smaller ones, all well armed, and for 500 Flemings to work them. Fernandez objected that no consideration was offered for so great a gift, and that Desmond could give no security out of Ireland; but ultimately an article was made out in which the Earl avowed himself the Emperor’s subject, and promised to help him in all his enterprises. Knowing that no guarantee could be given, the Spaniard wisely asked for none but his host’s word of honour. The Earl declared his fixed intention – and here at least he spoke quite sincerely – to use all his strength and that of his friends in prosecuting the war against Piers Butler, the King’s Deputy, and against the cities of Limerick, Waterford, and Dublin. He begged the Emperor’s help, and renewed his request for cannon; as for men, he could bring 16,500 foot and 1,500 horse into the field, and his allies could furnish 9,000 additional foot and 300 additional horse. In enumerating his allies Desmond again drew upon his imagination, for he included O’Donnell, Prince of Ulster, with his 4,000 foot and 800 horse, Maguire and Magennis in the distant north, as well as the MacCarthies with whom he was at war, and who, about this time, defeated him in a pitched battle. He also represented himself as firmly allied and frequently communicating with the King of Scotland.[163 - In the Pilgrim Wexford is substituted for Waterford. The lists of chiefs in the Pilgrim and in Brewer (vol. iv. No. 5501) are not quite identical.]

Fernandez is unfavourable to Desmond

Fernandez told his master that Desmond had treated him well, and supplied his ship with fresh beef and venison. He had found him full of animosity against Wolsey, and quite ready to forget his French connections and his former compact with Francis. But the Earl acknowledged that Dublin was the chief town of Ireland, and that he had no interest there, and that his kinsman of Kildare, whom he called the ruler of the capital, had been imprisoned in the Tower. That he had been arrested partly on Desmond’s account was obviously of less importance than the fact that he could be arrested at all. As to Cork, Limerick, and Waterford, Desmond had some friends there, but many more enemies. On the other hand, the Earl certainly had ten castles, and Fernandez was made to believe that the King of England had lately failed to take Dungarvan – a version of the facts which strained them considerably. The Spaniard could not doubt that Desmond had many tributary knights, and much influence among the wild Irish; but he did not form a high opinion of the Earl’s soldiers, among whom executions for theft and murder were very frequent. They performed wonderful feats of horsemanship without saddle or stirrups, but they had no military skill. There were some gallowglasses with halberts, but the great mass had only bows and arrows. Fernandez allows that the Earl kept good justice, but it is clear that his general impression was unfavourable.

Desmond sends messengers to Spain. The English agents are well informed

Desmond sent John Aslaby, Archdeacon of Cloyne, and another messenger with Fernandez, and they found their way to Spain. The English agents there continued to be well informed, and they learned from one Gwyn, living at Ballinskellig, in Kerry, and trading to St. Sebastian, that Desmond had sent for 4,000 men to teach the Irish war. Gwyn truly reported that Cormac Oge was warring against the Earl, but that he would probably soon acknowledge himself beaten. There is reason to believe that a Spanish expedition to Ireland was really contemplated, but that the Biscayans intended for the service refused to go, alleging, with a fine perception of the realities of Celtic diplomacy, that the Irish would be sure to deceive the Emperor. At all events nothing was done, and Spanish intervention in Ireland was put off for half a century. Desmond was proclaimed a traitor, but he died soon afterwards, and his successor followed him in a few months, leaving his heritage in dispute. The mission of Fernandez had no direct effect upon Ireland, but it may have had a good deal to do with Wolsey’s fate, and with the crooked diplomacy of the divorce question. He was heir to De Puebla, who had negotiated Catherine of Arragon’s marriages, and probably knew more than any one about the brief which Julius II. was said to have sent to Ferdinand the Catholic, and which, if genuine, would have precluded Clement VII. from granting a divorce on the ground of affinity. If the brief was forged, its spuriousness could not be proved in the absence of Fernandez, and the delay was fatal to the English Cardinal.[164 - Brewer, vol. iv. No. 5620; Lee to Henry VIII., July 4, 1529, ib. 5756. For the question of the brief see Brewer, Introd. to vol. iv. pp. ccccxxiii. and ccccxliv., and an excellent article in the Quarterly Review for January 1877.]

Stephen Parry’s tour in the south of Ireland. Siege of Dungarvan

Lord Leonard Grey was sent to England in charge of Kildare, but he left his company of 100 men, under a Welsh officer named Parry, with orders to attach himself to Lord Butler. Parry’s despatch to Cromwell is one of the very few contemporary documents which throw light on the state of the country. He and his men entered Ossory’s district at Leighlin Bridge, where the people were glad to see them, and went on to Callan, where they found English fashions generally followed. They were so well received at Callan that they stayed there nine days, and they made a further halt of three days at Clonmel, which also entertained them hospitably. Thomas Butler, a man of great local influence, who had married Ossory’s daughter, and was afterwards created Lord Cahir, met the troops at Clonmel and led them over the mountains to Dungarvan. He spoke very good English, and made himself most agreeable. Gerald MacShane Fitzgerald of Decies, who was also Ossory’s son-in-law, joined them on the road. This gentleman could not speak a word of English, but he was very civil, professed great loyalty, and bound himself by hostages to act under the advice of the Council. Reaching Dungarvan about the middle of September, they met Skeffington, who had made up his mind to take the place, and who brought the artillery which was henceforth to play so great a part in Irish politics. The accidental presence of a Devonshire fishing fleet enabled the Lord Deputy to invest the castle completely. On being summoned the commandant answered boldly that he held the place for his master, and that he would do the best for him, as he was sure Skeffington would in like case do for his master. Two days were spent in preparing the battery, and at five o’clock on the morning of the third the cannonade began. A breach was made by eleven, and Sir John Saintloo wished to storm it at once, but Skeffington’s practised eye detected an inner barricade. Lord Butler, who was a suitor for the castle, and had no mind to be at the expense of rebuilding it, here interfered to prevent a renewal of the fire. He sent in two of his men as hostages for the constable’s safety, and the latter then came out. Partly by coaxing and partly by bullying, Butler persuaded him to surrender, and he and his men took the oath of allegiance and swore to maintain the succession of Anne Boleyn’s child. The castle was handed over to Ossory’s men.[165 - Stephen Ap Parry to Cromwell, Oct. 6, 1535; Skeffington to the King, Oct. 16.]

Desmond dies in 1529. Disputed succession. Parry’s journey

The Earl of Desmond whom Gonzalo Fernandez visited died in 1529, leaving no male issue, and his uncle and successor Thomas Moyle soon followed him. Thomas Moyle’s son Maurice died before his father, having married Joan Fitzgerald, daughter of the White Knight, by whom he left one son, generally called James Fitzmaurice. James would have succeeded of course, but that the validity of his mother’s marriage was disputed. Failing him the next heir would be his grand-uncle, John Fitz-Thomas, who was at this time a very old man. To settle this question, if possible, and also, as Skeffington wrote to the King, ‘to execute the succession of your Highness and of your most excellent Queen’ Anne Boleyn, the Lord-Deputy issued commissions for all the southern and western counties, and in each Lord Butler was named chief commissioner. But the old artilleryman would not give Butler a single gun, and he continued his journey without the means of taking castles. At Youghal the townsmen received him well, and Parry, who evidently liked good living, notes that claret sold there for fourpence a gallon. Next day they encamped near Midleton, where the Butlers mustered 202 horse, 312 gallowglasses, and 204 kerne, besides a due proportion of the rabble which invariably accompanied Irish armies. Parry’s contingent consisted of 78 spearmen, 24 ‘long boys,’ and 5 musketeers – all well horsed. The next day they reached Cork, and Cormac Oge appeared with his host on a hill less than a mile from the city. Drawing up his main body on rising ground fronting the MacCarthies, Butler descended into the hollow with a few followers, and the chief of Muskerry met him there similarly attended. The mayor and aldermen, all in scarlet gowns and velvet tippets, after the English fashion, were very glad to see so many Englishmen, and ‘made us,’ says Parry, ‘the best cheer that ever we had in our lives.’ Next day Cormac Oge came into the town accompanied by the young Earl, who had married his daughter, and who, having been brought up in England, dressed and behaved in approved fashion. He acknowledged that he held all from the King, whom he had never offended; and as a true-born Englishman he was quite ready to go to England and try his title before his Majesty in council, provided his grand-uncle Sir John would do the same. Earl or not, he was at the King’s disposal for any service, and to all this Cormac Oge agreed.[166 - Stephen Ap Parry to Cromwell, Oct. 6; Lord Butler to Cromwell, Oct. 17.]

Journey of Parry and Lord Butler. The O’Briens

The youthful Lord Barry, who spoke very good English and was full of complaints against the MacCarthies for keeping him out of his lands, also came to Lord Butler at Cork. Cormac Oge was anxious to have all disputes referred to the Lord-Deputy; but his son-in-law MacCarthy Reagh, the chief of Carbery, who came in upon safe-conduct, said that he would do nothing of the kind, but would hold by the sword what he had won by the sword. Butler was very angry and told him he should repent, but MacCarthy doubtless knew that, however good the will, the power to pursue him into his own country was wanting. Mallow and Kilmallock, which Parry found a very poor town, were next visited; and as the army approached Limerick, O’Brien evacuated two castles in the neighbourhood and obstructed the passes into Thomond with felled trees. Hearing that the invaders had no cannon he restored his garrison, and encamped with a large force three miles from the city walls. At Limerick Parry also found very good cheer, ‘but nothing like the cheer that we had at Cork.’ They then encamped at Adare, where Donogh O’Brien, the reigning chief of Thomond’s eldest son and the husband of Lady Helen Butler, came to meet his brother-in-law. The speech attributed to Donogh seems genuine, and is not without a rude pathos: – ‘I have married your sister; and for because that I have married your sister, I have forsaken my father, mine uncle, and all my friends, and my country, to come to you to help to do the King service. I have been sore wounded, and I have no reward, nor nothing to live upon. What would ye have me to do? If that it would please the King’s grace to take me unto his service, and that you will come into the country, and bring with you a piece of ordnance to win a castle, the which castle is named Carrigogunnell, and his Grace to give me that, the which never was none Englishman’s these 200 year, and I will desire the King no help, nor aid of no man, but this English captain, with his 100 and odd of Englishmen, to go with me upon my father and mine uncle, the which are the King’s enemies, and upon the Irishmen that never English man were amongst; and if that I do hurt or harm, or that there be any mistrust, I will put in my pledges, as good as ye shall require, that I shall hurt no Englishman, but upon the wild Irishmen that are the King’s enemies. And for all such land as I shall conquer, it shall be at the King’s pleasure to set Englishmen in it, to be holden of the King, as his pleasure shall be; and I to refuse all such Irish fashions, and to order myself after the English and all that I can make or conquer. Of this I desire an answer.’

That Donogh in offering his services was going directly against his own family is plain from a letter which his father had written to Charles V. not much more than a year before. ‘We have,’ he had then said, ‘never been subject to English rule, or yielded up our ancient rights and liberties; and there is at this present, and for ever will be, perpetual discord between us, and we will harass them with continual war.’ The O’Briens had never sworn fealty to anyone, but he offered full submission to the Emperor, with 100 castles and 18,000 men.[167 - Parry to Cromwell as before. Con O’Brien to Charles V., July 21, 1534, printed in Froude’s Pilgrim, from the Brussels Archives.]

The Desmonds and the Irish

Old Sir John of Desmond, the rival claimant to the title, also came to Adare and spoke plainly in very good English. ‘What should I do in England,’ he asked, ‘to meet a boy there? Let me have that Irish horson, Cormac Oge, and I will go into England before the King.’ Parry thought him as full of mischief as ever; but he agreed to meet the young Earl at Youghal, and also the obnoxious Cormac. It is curious to see how proud these Desmonds were of their Norman blood, and how they despised the Irish; while often straining every nerve against Henry II.’s successor, offering their allegiance to foreign princes, and boasting to them of their Irish allies.

Parry’s observations