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

The Commissioners were to examine charges of taking money from the rebels which were brought against many men highly placed in Ireland; Henry rightly supposing that many nominal subjects connived at treason, as in the case of O’Brien’s Bridge, which had cost much to take and to demolish, and which was now as strong and as troublesome as ever. But he did not choose to see that want of money was the chief cause of this failure. He was indeed, he said, determined to make a full reformation some day, and the information now collected would be very useful when the convenient season arrived. In the meantime, the Commissioners were to reduce the garrison to 340 men.

The Commissioners arrive in Ireland, 1537. Grey’s activity against the Irish

St. Leger and his companions set out early in August, but were detained by adverse winds about Holyhead, and did not arrive at Dublin till the middle of September. Grey had unusually strong reasons for exertions, and he begged hard for money and artillery. The pay of the army was twelve months in arrear. O’Connor was coshering among his friends ‘more liker a beggar, than he that ever was a captain or ruler of a country,’ and making vain suits daily to the Government. But Grey had not caught him, and he could be submissive enough until what was left of his corn had been saved; his neighbours, English and Irish, thinking it more prudent to shelter an enterprising rebel than to run risks for a Government which could not protect its friends. Grey, who habitually used strong language, characterises these prudent people as ‘having as much falsehood remaining in them as all the devils of hell.’ Having, as he supposed, made O’Connor ‘as low as a dog were for the bone,’ he applied himself to the Kavanaghs, whose chief, Cahir MacArt, had married a Geraldine. It had been often proposed to extirpate them and to colonise the country. The Lord Deputy now entered Carlow, burned some castles of the O’Nolans between Newtownbarry and Tullow, forced Cahir MacArt to give hostages, and then turned sharply upon Ely O’Carroll, where O’Connor had first found a refuge. He had now the help of Ossory, who was always glad to weaken a neighbour, and of Cahir O’Connor, who was as anxious as his brother to divert attention from the Offaly corn. He passed unopposed through the lands of the Fitzpatricks, O’Mores, O’Molloys, and MacGeohegans, received O’Carroll’s submission, and then entered Tipperary, where he took a castle belonging to O’Meagher, the chief of Ikerrin. O’Connor came in on safe-conduct, and paid 300 marks for his son, who was given up to him. Grey refused to trust him, and begged Cromwell never to allow his restoration; and the event proved Grey right, though he soon forgot his own advice. He now announced to the minister that he was beginning to understand the Irish nature, and that the King needed only to be in earnest. He was right in blaming constant changes of policy, but like most soldiers he failed to see the real difficulties of the Irish problem.[189 - Lord Deputy and Council to Cromwell, Aug. 12. Grey to Cromwell, Aug. 16, 1537, wrongly printed under 1539 in the S.P.; same to same, Sept. 1.]

The O’Donnells. Death of Hugh Oge, 1537

It was now just a quarter of a century since Hugh Oge O’Donnell, then on his return from Rome, had been received with honour at the Court of Henry VIII. Deeply impressed by what he saw there, and aware of the impossibility of uniting all Irish tribes against the stranger, he had always striven to keep English intruders at bay by remaining on good terms with the Government, and had exerted his strength only to subdue his neighbours on the side furthest removed from the Pale. He had thus extended his sway over the modern counties of Roscommon and Sligo, and over great portions of Fermanagh, Mayo, and Galway, and even of Down and Antrim. He had forced or persuaded the O’Neills to acknowledge his claims to the disputed sovereignty over Innishowen, Raphoe, and Fermanagh; and the Irish generally were so much impressed by his wisdom and prowess that they supposed him to be Hugh the Valiant, the promised Celtic Messiah, who was to redress or avenge the wrongs of Erin. When it seemed clear that this was not so, the dreamers of dreams declared that as he had failed the deliverer would never come. His panegyrists reckon among his titles to fame that ‘the seasons were favourable, so that sea and land were productive:’ it is more to the purpose that he executed strict justice and repressed thieves. Like most Irish chiefs, he had difficulties with his children, and his valiant son Manus was discarded at the instance of a mistress whom the old chief had brought into his house. For this and for other sins he made such reparation as he could by a late repentance, donned the cord and cowl of St. Francis, and died in the odour of sanctity. He was buried in his religious dress in the monastery which his father had built at Donegal for friars of the strict observance; and Manus was at once acknowledged both by the tribesmen and by O’Neill, and was inaugurated at Kilmacrenan with the usual ceremonies.[190 - Four Masters and Annals of Lough Cé, 1512 and 1537. Manus O’Donnell to Grey, Aug. 20, 1537. Ware says that Donegal Friary contained a famous library.]

Disturbances in the North

The new chief at once took up the thread of his father’s policy by invading Connaught, and at the same time making loyal professions to Grey. He had, he wrote, been tempted to rebellion by all the disaffected lords in the South and West, but was determined to take no advice but that of the King and his Deputy. As soon as he heard of Hugh O’Donnell’s death, Grey at once repaired to the borders of Ulster. The galleys of O’Neill and his Scotch allies had threatened a fortified settlement at Ardglass on the coast of Down, and the Deputy burned to invade Tyrone; but the Council dissuaded him, and the receipt of Manus O’Donnell’s letter gave hopes of settling the North by peaceful means. Some thought Grey too fond of making aimless raids, and Alen made some sensible remarks on the subject. ‘I would not,’ he wrote to St. Leger, ‘have the Deputy representing the King’s Majesty’s person and estate be a common skurrer for every light matter; but, when he should begin a war, begin it upon a just good ground, and when it were so begun, to be so profoundly executed, that all other should take example thereby.’ But the King thought only of increasing the revenue and diminishing the army.[191 - Grey to Cromwell, Sept. 1, 1537; J. Alen to St. Leger and others, No. 183 in the printed S.P.]

Grey is baffled by the O’Connors

Grey had been sanguine enough to believe that his work in Offaly would be lasting, but, as Henry had partly foreseen, O’Connor’s return had undone it all. Cahir was a fugitive, and the floods protected Offaly, where the corn had been safely garnered in. At last the waters subsided, and Grey reached Brackland by the old road through Westmeath. O’Connor escaped into O’Doyne’s country, the modern barony of Tinnahinch, which Grey and Richard Butler proceeded to ravage. While thus employed the scattered troops were surprised by O’Connor, and some were killed. The Lord Deputy was just able to destroy or carry away the corn stored at Geashill, and to return to Dublin without having seen the enemy. To gain time till the season of long days came round again, Grey gave a safe-conduct to O’Connor, who proposed to visit Dublin. ‘But shortly herein to conclude,’ as Brabazon puts it, ‘the said traitor and his brother Cahir fell to agreement and concord, so that at this presents they both remain in Offaly.’ St. Leger, who had a cooler temper than Grey, saw the impossibility of subduing even a single clan by desultory hostings. ‘The country,’ he said, ‘is much easier won than kept.’ To overrun Offaly was a small thing, but it could only be united to the Pale by the costly expedient of fixed garrisons. O’Connor had got back his son, and indeed neither he nor any Irishman had much regard for promises or for the fate of hostages.[192 - Brabazon to Cromwell, Dec. 31, 1537. St. Leger to Cromwell, Jan. 2, 1538.]

He continues to attack them

The O’Connors were weakened by repeated blows, and Alderman Herbert, who had long advised a colonising policy, proposed that Offaly should be peopled with Englishmen once for all. Grey again invaded the doomed district with 800 men, and O’Connor at once declared himself willing to treat, though he utterly refused to trust himself within the Pale. Grey halted at Kinnafad, where a castle built by the Berminghams still overhangs the ford of the Boyne. Having taken precautions against treachery, the Lord Deputy passed about half his men over the river, and then advanced with twelve horsemen to an open field about a quarter of a mile off, where O’Connor met him similarly attended. The chief submitted to the King’s clemency, begged Grey’s intercession, and promised to come to Dublin in three days. Cahir sent word that he would come too, but broke his promise. O’Connor kept his tryst, acknowledged himself the King’s liegeman, abjured the authority of the Pope for himself and his tribesmen, renounced all Irish exactions, and gave up his black-rents, including a pension of sixty marks from the King. Thanks were in future to be his only reward for service; and he offered to hold legally of the King ‘that portion of lands in Offaly which he held by partition after his country’s fashion,’ undertaking that his brothers and other holders of land there should become entitled in the same way. These lands were to be subject to impositions at so much per ploughland, as if they were situated in the Pale, assessments for the defence of the King’s subjects being made as occasion might arise at the Lord Deputy’s discretion. For himself he solicited the honour of Baron of Offaly, and begged for such protection as the Government habitually gave to Englishmen. He agreed that the Lord Deputy and all the marchers might cut passes where they pleased, and gave up his son again pending the King’s final decision. The crafty Cahir was hunted down, apparently with his brother’s help, and brought to Dublin, where he agreed to similar terms and also gave up his son. Yet many sceptics thought the O’Connors would slip the yoke at the first opportunity, and it is evident that nothing had occurred to change their nature, or to attach them to English habits or to English government.[193 - From the light it throws on the land question O’Connor’s prayer is worth transcribing: —‘Humiliter petit, quatenus Dominus Rex, ex suâ gratiâ, dignetur concedere sibi, per literas suas patentes, quod ipse, et exitus sui, sint liberi status, et homines legales, more Anglicorum; et quod sit Baro de Offaly, atque habeat sibi et heredibus suis ex regia donatione portionem terrarum in Offaly, quas nunc illic possidet per partitionem, more patriæ, tenendam de Domino Rege secundum leges Anglicanas; ac quod simili auctoritate, fratres sui, et alii possessionarii terrarum ibidem, terras quas nunc possident habeant sibi et heredibus suis; ipse et omnes alii et heredes sui, reddendo Dominio Regi, annuatim, de qualibet carucata terræ, tres solidos et quatuor denarios; et quod carucatæ terræ in Offaly, quotiens Domino Deputato visum fuerit, ac necessitas emergerit, onerantur et assidentur belligeris pro defensione subditorum Domini Regis, eodem modo sicut cæteræ carucatæ terræ inter regios subditos onerantur et assidentur. Igitur humiliter petit, quod Dominus Rex, et Deputati sui, pro tempore existentes, suscipiant suam protectionem et defensionem contra omnes alios, prout suscipiant defensionem Anglicorum.’ Submission of O’Connor, March 6, 1538. – Grey to Cromwell, March 17, 1538; Francis Herbert to Cromwell, March 21, 1536, to Norfolk, Jan. 24, 1538; Grey to Cromwell, April 1, 1538.]

Seizure of the five Geraldines

A main object of Grey’s attack both on the O’Connors and the O’Briens may have been to get possession of the heir of Kildare, whose half-sister was married to the chief of Offaly. It is difficult to avoid the thought that Grey had a private as well as a public object in persecuting to the death all members of the fallen family except the children of his own sister. The rebel Earl had five uncles, all men of fair ability and great influence, and Brabazon seems first to have suggested that they ought to be kept in England. Grey asked Sir James Fitzgerald and his brothers Walter and Richard, all of whom had opposed the rebellion, to dine with him at Kilmainham, and in the middle of dinner they were all seized and handcuffed. Sir John and Oliver were arrested before they had heard of their brothers’ capture, and the five were lodged in the castle. Grey always plumed himself on this exploit, though he admitted that some of the prisoners were innocent. The Irish Council approved the deed and applauded its secret handling, but none of the Irish officials knew that they were sending these men to the scaffold; the guilt of that must rest on Henry and Cromwell. Aylmer and Alen accompanied them to England, and the chronicler tells us that Richard, who had literary tastes, relieved the tedium of a sea-voyage by singing songs and repeating apophthegms. When he heard that the ship was called ‘The Cow,’ he was much dismayed, for there was a prophecy that five Earls’ brethren should be carried to England in a cow’s belly, and should never return. ‘Whereat,’ says Stanihurst, ‘the rest began afresh to howl and lament, which doubtless was pitiful, to behold five valiant gentlemen, that durst meet in the field as sturdy champions as could be picked out in a realm, to be so suddenly terrified with the bare name of a wooden cow, or to fear like lions a silly coxcomb, being moved (as commonly the whole country is) with a vain and fabulous old wives’ dream.’ On reaching London they were at once sent to the Tower, and left it only to take the last sad journey to Tyburn.[194 - Brabazon to Cromwell, Sept. 10, 1535; Council of Ireland to Cromwell, Feb. 14, 1536; Stanihurst; Ware; Four Masters, 1535.]

Survivor of the Kildare family. The ‘Fair Geraldine.’

But the family was not destined to extinction. Lady Kildare had accompanied her husband to England, and had her three daughters with her. The eldest was deaf and dumb, and of the youngest nothing particular is recorded, but the second, Lady Elizabeth, has by a strange chance been immortalised as the ‘Fair Geraldine.’ While yet a child she became maid of honour to the Princess Mary, at whose house at Hunsdon Henry, Earl of Surrey, saw her. She was then only twelve. Four years later she was married to Sir Anthony Browne, Master of the Horse and Knight of the Garter, but also a widower of sixty, whose daughter by his first marriage became her brother Gerald’s wife. The unequal match was solemnized in the presence of the King and of the Lady Mary, and Ridley preached on the occasion which drew forth Surrey’s sonnet. The situation of the bride’s family and the apparent sacrifice of herself sufficiently account for the poetry, and there is no reason to suppose that the poet, who was married, had any regrets for himself. The study of Italian models would naturally lead to rather high-flown language, and poets were always privileged. The romantic fable of the magic mirror in which Cornelius Agrippa, an alchemist living at Florence, showed him the fair one reclining on a bridal couch and reading his sonnet, would not be worth noticing but that it found its way into the ‘Lay of the Last Minstrel.’ It is refuted by the fact that Surrey never was in Italy. After the death of Browne, who outlived Surrey, Lady Elizabeth was married to the Lord Admiral Clinton, who had been twice a widower. She left no children by either marriage, but her influence at Court may have had much to do with her brother’s restoration. A portrait remains to show that she had a sweet face, and that she was not fairer than many who have had no poet. But canvas, and especially the canvas of Holbein’s school, seldom preserves the charm of grace and motion. Three letters remain, creditable so far as they go, and written in a clear, bold hand which contrasts strikingly with the crabbed characters often affected by public men, characters which drew a sarcasm from Shakespeare, and still trouble the historian. A portrait, three letters, and fourteen pretty lines would have hardly preserved the fair Geraldine’s memory had it not been for the tragic fates of her father, her brother, and her poet.[195 - Nearly all that is really known about her is contained in a memoir by the Rev. James Graves. See also Hallam’s History of Literature and Lodge’s Lives of the Earls of Surrey and Kildare.]

Edward Fitzgerald

Less than two years after her husband’s death, and while her rash stepson was lying in the Tower, Lady Kildare came to live at her brother Leonard’s house at Beaumanoir in Leicestershire. She found there her son Edward, aged eight, who had been brought by some devoted but unknown friends ‘without word, token, nor letter.’ With touching humbleness she begged to be allowed the custody of him ‘because he is an innocent, to see him brought up in virtue.’ The prayer was granted, and the child thus strangely rescued lived to be Lieutenant of Queen Elizabeth’s pensioners, and ancestor of the Dukes of Leinster.[196 - Lady Kildare to Cromwell, July 16, 1536. Articles by St. Leger and others, Dec. 10, 1537.]

Gerald Fitzgerald

The King was most anxious to get Lady Kildare’s eldest son into his power, and St. Leger avers that the King had no object ‘but to cherish him as his kinsman in like sort as his other brother is cherished with his mother in the realm of England.’ Having disposed of all who were old enough to be dangerous, it was doubtless Henry’s intention to bring up the children in English ways and in dependence on him. But Lady Mary O’Connor had other views, and the adventures of Gerald show how inextricably the Geraldines were intermingled with Celtic families. He was ten years old when his half-brother was taken, and was then lying in small-pox at Donore in Kildare. As soon as he could be moved his tutor, Thomas Leverous, who was his father’s foster-brother, carried him off in a basket and brought him safely to his sister in Offaly. Lady Mary procured him a three months’ shelter among the O’Doynes, and he was then removed to Clare and placed under the charge of James Delahide. O’Brien, who had the Kildare plate and jewels as well as the heir in his power, refused all offers of the Government; and Leverous and Delahide were allowed to take Gerald to Kilbrittain Castle, and give him up to his aunt, Lady Eleanor MacCarthy, widow of the late and mother of the actual chief of Carbery. Had James Fitzjohn of Desmond wished to surrender the boy MacCarthy could hardly have resisted; but they agreed to amuse the Government with evasive answers, while Gerald employed himself in visiting the old tenants of his family about Adare and Croom. James Fitzjohn offered to take those manors on lease, the real object being to keep off grants to strangers. But Lady Eleanor feared the issue of this unequal contest, and agreed to marry Manus O’Donnell, whom she had rejected some years before. The marriage was desired by the whole Geraldine connection, and Lady Eleanor, accompanied by Leverous, Delahide, and the chaplain Walshe, brought her nephew safely through Thomond, Clanricarde, and Mayo, into Tyrconnell. All the O’Briens and Burkes welcomed and sped them on their journey. As the travellers approached Sligo they were joined by a rhymer named M’Cragh, a native of Tipperary, who was studying his craft in those parts, and through him many details became known to Ormonde. After her marriage with O’Donnell, Lady Eleanor busied herself in forming a confederacy of the Northern chiefs with Desmond and her friends in Leinster and Munster.[197 - St. Leger and others to Cromwell, Jan. 2, 1538; Ormonde to the Irish Council, S.P., vol. iii. p. 44; Stanihurst.]

Gerald escapes to France, 1540

But Irish plots are commonly woven in sand, and Grey’s activity disconcerted her schemes. Fearing that O’Donnell might be bribed, as Brabazon suggested, to give up the boy, she determined to send him to France. Allen Governor, an English shipowner of St. Malo, happened to be trading in Donegal, and agreed to take the precious passenger. A contract was drawn up before a notary, in which Governor bound himself to land Gerald and his companions safely in France. Bareheaded, and wearing only the saffron shirt of a humble native, Gerald stole out in a small boat by night and committed himself and his fortunes to the chances of the sea. His aunt had provided him with 140 moidores, and he had also some plate, with part of which his passage was paid. His companions were Leverous, Robert Walshe, a faithful ally but a stern disciplinarian, who did not even spare the rod in the interests of his noble charge, and a young gentleman whose name is not recorded. They arrived safely at Morlaix, where the military governor received Gerald and led him through the town by the hand, taking especial care that no English trader should come near him. Henry’s ambassador was nevertheless well informed as to the boy’s movements. He re-embarked on the same vessel with a pilot named Jacques Cartier, who brought him to St. Malo, where he was hospitably treated by the Lieutenant-Governor.[198 - Brabazon to Cromwell, May 26, 1539; Stanihurst.]

Gerald abroad, 1540

When Chateaubriand, the Governor of Brittany, heard the news, he sent a special messenger to bring the refugees to Rennes. The gossips there would have it that Gerald was the rightful King of Ireland, and that Henry was a mere usurper; and neither he nor his friends could correct them: for they spoke no French. Chateaubriand treated his guest well and forwarded him to Court, where Wallop demanded his surrender as a treaty obligation. Francis did not deny this, but quietly removed the boy to the imperial town of Valenciennes. The faithful Leverous still attended him to watch against English kidnappers who were hanging about, and for greater security sent him to the Emperor at Brussels. But English diplomacy was importunate, and Charles transferred him to the Prince-bishop of Liège, with an allowance of one hundred crowns a month. After six months’ residence with the Bishop, his kinsman Reginald Pole sent him to Italy, pensioned him, and provided the best education the peninsula afforded in the houses of the Bishops of Verona and Mantua, and of Gonzago, Duke of Milan, who gave him a further pension. His last patron in Italy was Cosmo de’ Medici, who allowed him three hundred crowns annually; and a three years’ residence at Florence doubtless made him a proficient in the arts of courtly dissimulation. Leverous was admitted to the English monastery at Rome, and in Mary’s reign became Bishop of Kildare; Robert Walshe went back to Ireland, but I do not find that his attainder was reversed or that he was ever pardoned.[199 - Sir John Wallop to Essex, April 18, 1540, S.P., vol. viii.; Lord Deputy and Council to the King, July 12, 1542, and Henry’s unfavourable answer; Bartholomew Warner to Wallop, May 22, 1540.]

Geraldine pride

O’Donnell soon made his submission, and was restored to favour. Lady Eleanor had some reason to be afraid, for Alen had proposed to invade Tyrconnell by sea and land with all the forces at the King’s disposal. But she had now secured her nephew, and cared nothing for her new husband or his dangers. She called him traitor and many other hard names, said that the only object of her marriage was now gained, and that she had no further occasion for his company. She returned to her son’s relations in Munster, but was not pardoned till 1545, seemingly because she did not ask sooner. The Irish Government refused to plead her cause as long as she remained obstinately among the MacCarthies. She came therefore to Malahide on safe-conduct, and thence forwarded a petition to which, as if the Geraldine pride scorned the Irish strain, she affixed her maiden name. After this the frequent reports of a Geraldine invasion ceased, but the head of the family thought it prudent to remain abroad until the death of Henry VIII.[200 - Lady Eleanor O’Donnell to the King, May 4, 1545.]

CHAPTER XII.

END OF GREY’S ADMINISTRATION

Ormonde proposes to reform his country

The O’Connors having been quieted for the moment, Ormonde, who had private as well as public reasons for his advice, proposed a temporising policy towards O’Neill and O’Reilly on the north, and towards O’Byrne and O’Toole on the south, side of the Pale. The Government might then easily subdue the Kavanaghs, who were surrounded by settled districts. Their chief, Cahir MacEncross, who has been called the last King of Leinster, had till lately been Constable, and his acceptance of the office seems to have been thought a condescension. Ormonde’s son Richard had now succeeded him, and with the aid of Saintloo and his Wexford men might hope to reduce the whole country. To strengthen Kilkenny against a possible counter attack from the O’Mores, Ormonde secured the services of Edmond MacSwiney, a powerful hereditary chief of gallowglasses, whom O’Connor had brought from Donegal. The Earl thought it cheaper to outbid O’Connor than to have MacSwiney’s band thrown into the scale of rebellion. Desmond and the rest excused their slowness to reform by saying that they waited for him to begin; and he was anxious to wipe out this reproach, regretting only that he had not the same powers in Kilkenny as in Tipperary. Though not disinterested, Ormonde’s was probably the best available plan, and his reforming zeal was certainly serious. ‘I have proclaimed,’ he said, ‘over all the county of Tipperary, that no caines, allyiegs, errikes, Irish Brehons, neither that law, rahowns, and many like exactions and extortions shall cease, with reformation for the grey merchants, and the Liberty court to be duly continued, as the King’s laws require.’ In Kilkenny he could only exhort; ‘howbeit,’ he added, ‘I have often persuaded many of them to be converted, which to do I can scarcely have their assents, for the lust they have to caines and other abuses, turning to their profit, as it doth to mine.’[201 - Ormonde to St. Leger, March 12, 1538. See also the ‘Fall of the Clan Kavanagh,’ by Hughes, Irish Archæological Journal, 4th series, vol. ii., 1873. Erics were compositions for murder, caines for other felonies. Rahownes may be the same as ‘sorohen.’ I do not understand allyieg, unless it be ‘allying’ with the Irish.]

Grey goes to Ulster, 1538

Taking advantage of O’Connor’s quiescent state, Grey cut passes on the borders of Offaly wide enough for several carts abreast. He then turned his eyes to the North, where the MacMahons of Ferney had for three years neglected to pay their tribute of 10l. The borderers of English race were opposed to Grey’s raid, and gave the MacMahons warning, but he managed to capture 500 cows, and as many pigs and goats. The expedition was as useless as it was inglorious, for Louth was invaded within a week, and O’Neill, who complained that his black-rent was unpaid, plundered the borders of the Pale and threatened to burn Drogheda. The men of that town and of Dundalk and Ardee rallied at the Lord Deputy’s summons, and O’Neill then became quieter in his behaviour. But nothing could keep Grey quiet. He lent soldiers to one Chamberlayne of Athboy, to revenge a private quarrel against O’Reilly. That chief had hitherto been at peace with the Pale; but he lost his brother in this aimless brawl, and a general alliance of the Northern chiefs was with difficulty averted. The MacMahons had done far more harm to Louth than Grey had done to them, and he could gain little reputation by enterprises which had no apparent object but plunder.[202 - Four Masters, 1537; Brabazon to Aylmer and Alen, Whitsuntide, 1538; Council of Ireland to Cromwell, June 10, 1538.]

The O’Tooles

While the Lord Deputy was driving cattle in Ulster, the other side of the Pale was in a blaze. John Kelway, Constable of Rathmore, saw some servants of Tirlogh O’Toole eating meat, assumed that it was stolen, and incontinently hanged them. This seems to have been thought unusual even among borderers, and Kelway’s conduct found no defenders. But the O’Tooles were willing to consider the question of compensation in Irish fashion, and a meeting took place for the purpose. Kelway brought a considerable force, and, on the parley being dissolved without an agreement, he followed the Irish into their mountains. The mountaineers turned to bay on advantageous ground, and drove the English into a small tower. Its thatched roof burned readily, and the whole party had to surrender. The O’Tooles killed Kelway, who deserved nothing better, but held the gentlemen of the Pale to ransom. Chief Justice Aylmer’s son was present but escaped, while his brother, Richard Aylmer of Lyons, was taken prisoner. About sixty of the marchers, all householders, fell in this wretched business, and so great a panic followed that an Irishman in Judge Luttrell’s service was afraid to travel from Glendalough to Dublin. It is ever thus between races of different degrees of civilisation; if the backward people are beaten it is thought quite natural, but the slightest check is of importance when experienced by members of the higher organisation.[203 - Grey to the King, June 4, 1538; Brabazon to Aylmer and Alen, Whitsuntide; Luttrell to Aylmer, June 5; Council to Aylmer, June 10. All the accounts make out that Kelway was quite wrong.]

Grey falls out with the Butlers

The Lord Deputy and the Butlers had never been very good friends, and the dissension now reached such a height as to disturb the whole country. ‘I was never,’ exclaimed Brabazon, ‘in despair in Ireland until now,’ and others were not more hopeful. ‘My Lord Deputy,’ said Lord Butler, ‘is the Earl of Kildare born again?’ and Luttrell, a keen observer, thought Ormonde hated Grey worse than he had hated Kildare. The Butlers complained that the Lord Deputy systematically slighted their party and favoured the Geraldines; he retorted that they intrigued with Irishmen against his government. One or two of the matters in dispute call for more particular notice.[204 - Justice Luttrell to Chief Justice Aylmer, June 5, 1538; Ormonde’s instructions to R. Cowley, June; Lord Butler to his father and to R. Cowley, June.]

Ormonde and the O’Carrolls

After many struggles Fergananim O’Carroll was the acknowledged chief of Ely. His wife was daughter to Kildare and sister-in-law to O’Connor, and he was ready to submit to Grey as the best means of opposing Ormonde. He promised to hold his land of the King at a rent of twelvepence for every ploughland, to attend the Lord Deputy with a fixed contingent, and to give free quarters for a limited number of the gallowglasses in the royal service. He also undertook to open up his country by cutting passes. O’Carroll at first stipulated that Grey should help him to recover all his father’s strongholds; but all those castles were already vested legally in the Crown, and some of them had been granted to Ormonde. The Council therefore objected, and Fergananim seems to have waived his claim without demanding any corresponding concession. The prudence of the Council had prevented the Lord Deputy from concluding an offensive alliance; but he acted as if he had done so, and proceeded to take Birr and Modreeny, both of which Ormonde claimed under a royal grant, and to attack Ballynaclogh. The latter place was held by an O’Kennedy who paid rent to the Earl, and it is within the bounds of Tipperary. O’Carroll boasted that Nenagh and Roscrea would soon be his, and these castles, though long in Irish hands, were part of the old Ormonde inheritance, and had been lately confirmed to the Earl by a new grant.[205 - Lord Butler to his father, June 19, 1538; Ormonde to the Irish Council, June; to R. and W. Cowley, July 16; to R. Cowley, July 20; to the Privy Council, S.P., vol. iii., p. 77; Grey to the King, June 4 and July 26; Council of Ireland to Cromwell, June 10, July 24, and August 22.]

Grey and the O’Mores

Connell O’More, chief of Leix, died in 1537, and the inevitable dispute followed between the tanist, his brother Peter, and his sons, Lysaght, Kedagh, and Rory. Grey espoused the cause of the sons, rather, as it seems, because Ormonde sided with Peter than from any preference for hereditary succession. Peter was, however, acknowledged as chief, and met Parry, Grey’s confidential man, at Athy. Rory, who was present, assaulted his uncle, and the latter was then seized by Parry and carried to Dublin. Nothing was proved against him, and he was restored on agreeing to pay an annual tribute of twenty marks, and to receive a certain number of soldiers at free quarters. The young O’Mores resisted the levying of the tribute, and Lysaght, the eldest, was killed in a fray. They had all taken part in the murder of Ormonde’s son Thomas five years before, and Kedagh and Rory now plundered one of his villages. Their party consisted of only eight men, but the neighbours pleaded that they dared not resist, because the assailants were aided and abetted by one of the Lord Deputy’s servants. The O’Mores pleaded that the Earl had first attacked them, and he rejoined that he had done so in self-defence. There was never a want of excuses for violence on any side. Grey forbade the Earl to retaliate, and it was even said that he shared the plunder. The young O’Mores then attacked Tullow, but the Lord Deputy still held Ormonde’s hand, and even sent guns to help his enemies. Hoping to make peace, the Council summoned both uncle and nephews to Dublin. The chief came on Ormonde’s advice and practically under his protection, and Kedagh also attended. O’More was at once sent handcuffed to Maynooth, though the whole Council protested, and Kedagh was suffered to depart unhurt. The blow to the Earl’s credit was serious, and was not deadened by Grey, who led his prisoner in chains about his own part of the country, much as the Thane of Fife threatened to lead Macbeth. Grey’s servants took the cue, and openly in the streets called the Butlers traitors. Lord Butler vowed that unless absolutely forced by his duty he would never wear armour under Grey until he had seen the King, and he cited the example of Count de Rœux, who had made a like vow when the Imperial lieutenant Van Buren had forced him to make peace with France. Even the old Earl meditated a journey to London, though he was so infirm that he could only be carried in a litter. The Irish Council condemned Grey’s treatment of O’More; and moreover, said they, ‘it is no good policy for the King our master, having no more obedient subjects in this land like unto the said Earl and his son, of reputation in honour, force, and strength, both to preserve and defend the parts where they dwell, and to succour other his subjects in all events, to suppress them which, with all their ancestors, have ever continued their truths to the Crown of England, either upon the accusation of those which for the most part have always done the contrary, or yet in hope to have them now from henceforth true, which hitherto were never true’ – remarks which have their practical value in modern Irish politics, as they had in the days of Henry VIII.[206 - Brabazon, Aylmer, and Alen to Cromwell, Aug. 24, 1538. For the treatment of O’More see Ormonde to R. Cowley, June 1538; Aylmer and Alen’s articles against Grey, June. Lord Butler to R. Cowley, June 20. Articles alleged on the part of O’More, S.P., vol. iii. p. 26. Council of Ireland to Cromwell, June 10. Luttrell to Aylmer, June 5. The ten years’ truce between Charles V. and Francis I. was concluded June 28, so that Lord Butler must refer to some earlier negotiations.]

Sudden departure of Grey

Though not too wise in council, Grey was prompt in action, and was never so happy as on horseback surrounded by armed men and free from interference. Perhaps he wished to show how much he could do without Ormonde’s help. He left Dublin suddenly, without warning the Council, and attended only by a small force, his companions being under the impression that he was bound only for an eight days’ journey into O’Carroll’s country. Among them was Lord Gormanston, a son of Lord Delvin, John D’Arcy, William Bermingham, O’Connor, Rory and Kedagh O’More, and several other Irishmen of note, with a due proportion of kerne and gallowglasses. Of English soldiers Grey had no more than one hundred, and of these the greater part were without armour. A hosting had been proclaimed against the O’Tooles, who still kept some of the prisoners taken in Kelway’s raid, and Grey promised to be back in time to lead the expedition. He failed to do so, and a truce was with much difficulty concluded with the mountaineers.[207 - Brabazon, Aylmer, and Alen to Cromwell, July 24, 1538.]

His rash march into Western Munster,

Grey made his first halt at Monasteroris, where O’Connor entertained him in the Franciscan friary. Next day he took Eglish Castle near Birr from the O’Molloys, and was joined by Kedagh O’More, O’Molloy, MacGeohegan, and MacGillapatrick, each of whom brought a few men with him. On the third day he entered Ely, and received the adhesion of Fergananim O’Carroll, who bound himself by indenture on the usual terms, and gave his son into the Lord Deputy’s hands. Grey spent three days in reducing the lands of Birr and Modreeny, the latter of which had to be taken by assault. Ormonde had provided the garrison with arms; but, as he alleged, these were intended only for use against Irish enemies. Grey then entered Tipperary, and on three successive days received the submissions of Dermot O’Kennedy, chief of Ormonde, of MacBrien Arra, and of Dermot O’Mulryan, chief of Owny. Ulick de Burgh, captain of Clanricarde, and Theobald, head of the Clanwilliam Burkes, also submitted; and James Fitzjohn of Desmond, to whom Grey gives the title of Earl, though he was not acknowledged by the Crown, brought a large contingent to the Deputy’s help, but refused to enter the gates of Limerick. He had not only procured a safe-conduct, but had solemnly bound O’Connor and others in Grey’s train to take his part if any attempt were made against him. The Lord Deputy spent a week in Limerick, where the Mayor and Corporation and the Bishop took the oath of supremacy. Connor O’Brien, the chief of Thomond, met Grey on the Shannon, ten miles from Limerick, and agreed, after a long wrangle, to put his son Tirlogh into the Deputy’s hands. He also promised to do all in his power to promote the capture of the castles held by his brother Murrough, the tanist of Thomond. O’Brien’s Bridge was once more demolished, Connor led the army through the tanist’s district, and everything was destroyed as far as Clare Castle. Here Grey and Desmond had a quarrel about the custody of O’Mulryan’s hostages, and there was very near being a pitched battle; but Sir Thomas Butler of Cahir, Ormonde’s son-in-law, managed to patch up a truce. Grey was, in fact, quite at O’Brien’s mercy, but the family politics saved him. The chief had lately married a second wife, Lady Alice Fitzgerald of Desmond, and Tirlogh, the child of the marriage, was pledged to Grey; but Murrough the tanist and Donough, the chief’s eldest son, were both afraid that the issue of the second marriage would be preferred before them. O’Connor, in whom Grey now placed implicit confidence, ‘and all sage men of his band, both English and Irish,’ begged him not to venture among the O’Briens, and Edmund Sexton, a noted royalist of Limerick, even conjured him on his allegiance not to cast away the citizens’ company, on whom all depended. Grey refused to take advice, and escaped all dangers, chiefly through Donough O’Brien’s influence. Donough’s loyalty might not have been enough by itself, but he dreaded the aggrandisement of Murrough more than possible dangers from a half-brother who was still in his infancy. Guided by a single gallowglass, who bore a silver axe adorned with silken tassels, the army marched safely into Clanricarde. Ulick de Burgh blamed Grey for his rashness, but he pointed to the guide and said, ‘Lo! seest thou not yonder standing before me O’Brien’s axe for my protection?’ A modern traveller among Arabs must often be content with some such outward sign of invisible allies, but his trust in O’Brien’s axe was made an article in Grey’s impeachment.[208 - Grey to the King, July 26, 1538. Brabazon, Aylmer, and Alen to Cromwell, Aug. 22. Information against Lord Leonard Grey, Oct. 1840, in Carew.]

And into Connaught, 1538

Ulick was fully acknowledged as chief of Clanricarde, to the prejudice of his uncle Richard. He was believed to be illegitimate, and the De Burghs, however much Hibernicised, had hitherto preserved the English law of succession. The precedent was therefore thought bad by many experienced men, but the relationships of this family are so inextricably confused that it is very hard to say who was legitimate and who was not. The citizens of Galway remembered their origin, and would take no money from the Lord Deputy, and Ulick, who was knighted, took hospitable care of his Irish allies. As at Limerick, the Mayor and Corporation took the oath of supremacy, and so did the Archbishop of Tuam. Grey made several forays into Clanricarde, with the apparent object of strengthening Ulick; and O’Flaherty, two O’Maddens, and Bermingham of Athenry, made their submissions. The Lord Deputy then went towards the Suck in O’Kelly’s country, and met O’Connor Roe, who rode with him to Aughrim. Fording the Shannon at Banagher, the army passed through the countries of O’Melaghlin and MacCoghlan, from whom securities were exacted, and returned unmolested to Maynooth, after an absence of thirty-eight days.[209 - Grey’s account has been pretty closely followed; see his letter to the King, July 26, 1538.]

Effects of this journey

As a military exploit Grey’s journey was by no means contemptible, but his critics seem to have been right in thinking it useless. The settled policy had long been to reduce the tribes bordering on the Pale, and not to overrun districts which there was no hope of holding. Many chiefs had come to the Lord Deputy with loyal professions, but they had required safe-conducts, had refused to enter walled towns, and had given children for hostages. They had thus saved their harvest, and the Government could scarcely take vengeance on infants. Grey’s supposed partiality for the Geraldines was probably the chief reason that he got back safely. He had no sooner turned his back than James Fitzjohn of Desmond seized Croom and Adare and threatened Ormonde’s country. No difficulty had been lessened by an exploit which was obviously open to the reproach of extreme rashness.[210 - For unfavourable strictures on Grey’s journey see Brabazon, Aylmer, and Alen to Cromwell, Aug. 22; articles by the Earl of Ormonde in S.P., vol. iii. p. 77; Thomas Agard to Cromwell, July 25, 1538. Agard blames Grey for taking cannon with him; he risked them of course.]

Grey’s dispute with the Butlers

Having got back their chief governor, the first care of the Council was to reconcile him with the Butlers. The old Earl’s appearance plainly foretold his approaching end, but he came to Dublin and left his son to front the Desmonds and O’Carrolls. Grey wrote to the latter to keep the peace, and Lord Butler at once came to Dublin; but both father and son refused to go to Maynooth, where they would be in the Lord Deputy’s power. Kilmainham was at last fixed on as the place of meeting, and Grey took the chair of state, but shook hands with none of the Council, and smiled on no one. The two Butlers offered to abide by the Council’s decision, but Grey had already produced a paper reflecting on them for receiving O’Connor after his defeat in the summer of 1537. A Latin confession said to have been made by O’Connor in the presence of Paulet and Berners was relied on, but the chief was secretly cross-examined by the Council, and so modified his statement as to exonerate the Butlers completely. It was said, for instance, that O’Connor had hired Edmond MacSwiney and his free axes immediately after a conference with Ormonde. O’Connor admitted the hiring, but explained that the gallowglasses were not bound to levy war against the King, and that Ormonde knew nothing at all about the matter. Again, he was charged with retaining Scotch mercenaries, who were allowed a fortnight’s free quarters in Ormonde’s country. He admitted having brought in the Scots; but the Earl had known nothing of it, and the free quarters had not been given. Ormonde allowed that he had harboured O’Connor, but pleaded the instructions of Grey, who waited for orders from the King, and who was afraid of driving the chief into fresh combinations with Irish enemies. The probability is that O’Connor had at first been ready to confess anything, because absolution was sure to follow, and he is not likely to have been overflowing with Latin, which was his only means of communicating with the English officials.[211 - Brabazon, Aylmer, and Alen to Cromwell, Aug. 22.]

They accuse each other