Ireland under the Tudors, with a Succinct Account of the Earlier History. Vol. 2 (of 3)

Sidney is obliged to temporise

Persuasion had failed, as Sidney doubtless foresaw, and he was in no condition to carry things with a high hand. He reiterated the demands he had already made in England, and declared he could do nothing till they were granted. A competent Chancellor, a President for Munster, money to pay off the demoralised soldiers and get new ones who had not graduated in idleness and extortion; these were the most pressing wants. 4,000l. should be spent out of hand in fortifications, and means should be given to victual all garrisons at once, instead of waiting till the last moment and then paying double. The Lord Deputy had not even a good clerk whom he could trust to copy despatches, still less could he do good service with soldiers who lived by plunder and were everywhere allied with the Irish. With 500 well-paid and well-appointed men he would chase Shane before him within forty-eight hours, or be accounted a traitor. Otherwise he might come to the walls of Dublin and go away unfought. Ulster was ready for the foreigner to seize, and a whole province would be worse to England than the single town of Calais had been to France. He had rather die than have the name of losing Ireland, and yet he could do nothing without proper tools. Six thousand times a day did he wish himself in any part of Christendom, so that he might escape from the Irish purgatory, with its endless and thankless toil.[113 - Sidney to Leicester, March 1; to Cecil, March 3 and April 17.]

The Sussex and Leicester factions

The presence of Sussex at Court was not favourable to his successor’s efforts in Ireland. Smarting under the sense of failure, he was ready to find fault, and he or his friends accused Sidney of using improper language. The party opposed to Leicester, including Ormonde, whose favour with the Queen was such as to cause some slight scandal, eagerly welcomed rumours unfavourable to the favourite’s brother-in-law. Sidney denied in vigorous language that he had slandered Sussex in any way, though he knew him to be his enemy. ‘That evil,’ he said, ‘come to me and mine, I pray God, that I wish to him.’ At last Elizabeth confronted Sussex and Leicester at the Council Board, and the result was a complete vindication of Sidney. But the unconciliatory tone of Sussex made the scene painful, and such as Cecil would have given much to avoid. Though angry with Sidney for his coldness to Ormonde, for the favour shown to Stukeley, and above all, for his financial importunities, the Queen pacified him by a graceful letter, and his credit seems to have been fully re-established at Court.[114 - Sidney to Cecil, April 17; Cecil to Sidney, June 16; Queen to Sidney, July 5.]

Elizabeth sends Sir F. Knollys to discover the truth. He supports Sidney

Like every English ruler before and since, Elizabeth found it very hard to get at the truth about Ireland. She now sent her Vice-Chamberlain, Sir F. Knollys, with large powers, and with directions to keep the chief part of the information he might acquire for her own ear. It was now evident that no good could be expected of Shane, and the question was how could he best be subdued. Cecil wrote privately to Sidney, advising him to speak favourably of Ormonde when conversing with Knollys. Whether he followed this prudent counsel or not, it is clear that the Lord Deputy succeeded in impressing his views on the special commissioner, who was much struck by his powers of work. That the Queen lost great sums by the system of long credits, and that discipline suffered by irregular payments, may seem elementary truths, but her Majesty was slow to receive them. She was startled by the proposal of a winter war, upon which Sidney and Knollys insisted, and of which St. Leger had demonstrated the value. Hitherto the usual plan had been to begin campaigning in spring, which is often a cold season in Ireland. The horses which had been kept in during the winter could not bear the exposure nor the green food. Little harm could be done to the young crops, and the Irish horses, which had been out all the winter, improved daily. There was plenty of milk and butter, and the cattle could find food everywhere. The true plan was to begin about harvest, to destroy as much ripe corn as possible, and to drive the Irish herds into flooded woods and bogs. Armed vessels should be provided to prevent the entry of Scots, 300 of whom Knollys believed to be more formidable than 600 Irish kerne.[115 - Memorial for Sir F. Knollys, April 18, 1566; Cecil to Sidney, May 18; Knollys to Cecil, May 19 and 29.]

The Queen hesitates

Though believing at heart that Shane would have to be subdued by force, Elizabeth hesitated to act on her conviction. Sidney implored Cecil to persuade her at least to spare her own purse, ‘though there be little care of this country and less of me… I will give you all my land in Rutlandshire to get me leave to go into Hungary, and think myself bound to you while I live. I trust there to do my country some honour, here I do neither good to Queen, country, nor to myself.’ Cecil worked hard to persuade his mistress, and at last she yielded, slowly and ungraciously, grumbling at the expense, and magnifying the objections to the course which she knew to be inevitable. To avoid the difficulty of provisioning an army in winter, it was resolved to make a permanent settlement in the extreme North. Three hundred seasoned soldiers from Berwick, 100 men from London, and 600 more from the Western counties, were to be placed under the experienced guidance of Colonel Randolph, and furnished with proper supplies. O’Donnell should be replaced in his country, and a naval expedition should secure the coast against any invasion from Scotland. All this was in strict accordance with the advice of Sidney and Knollys. An agent was sent to Scotland with friendly messages to Mary, and complaints of aid given to Shane. He was directed to sound Argyle, and to impress him and his friends with the idea that the Papists were Shane’s real supporters. This was true enough, for he had begged for French troops, styling himself defender of the faith in Ireland, and offering the Crown of Ireland to the most Christian King, when the English schismatics should be driven out. Nor had he omitted to send a representative to the Scots Court, impudently informing Sidney that he had sent him at the request of Argyle, and that he had gone thither only ‘to show the monstrous glibbe that he wore upon his head.’[116 - Sidney to Cecil, June 9, 1566; Queen to Sidney, June 15 and July 8; Instructions for Randolph, July 8; Winchester to Sidney, July 31; Shane O’Neill to Charles IX. and to the Cardinal of Lorraine, April 25. See also in the Foreign Calendar Instructions for H. Killigrew, June 15; Elizabeth to Randolph, May 23, and Randolph to Cecil, same date. Cecil comforted Sidney with frequent letters, and the Lord Treasurer Winchester promised him hearty support.]

Insolence of Shane. Mission of Randolph

While a weapon was being slowly forged for his destruction, Shane assumed the offensive and threatened the Pale. He refused to treat unless his servant, as he called Maguire, should be given up to him. Sidney faced him for two days near Dundalk, and was then forced to retire for want of provisions, first advising the inhabitants to place their goods in safety – a precaution which many did not or could not take. No sooner was his back turned than Shane advanced and burned Haggardston and most of the villages in the north part of Louth. He then attacked Dundalk, whose walls were ruinous enough, but John Fitzwilliam, with a small number of soldiers, made so good a stand that the Irish were driven off with great loss, though they had actually penetrated into the streets. Twenty-six heads, representing but a small part of the slain, were left grinning on the gates. Shane then withdrew towards the border of Tyrconnel, and made great offers to the Scots; but Sidney had been beforehand with him, and no help came. He and all his adherents were proclaimed traitors at Drogheda, and a day was fixed for attacking him in force. But money difficulties caused a further delay, though Gresham went to Antwerp on purpose, and though Cecil pledged his own credit for what to us seems the small sum of 1,100l. Then the winds were adverse, and Shane had reaped most of his harvest before Randolph had left Bristol. A month later than had been originally intended all difficulties were surmounted, and Sidney moved forward as soon as he heard that the expedition had arrived in Lough Foyle.[117 - Randolph to Cecil, Sept. 3, 1566. Sidney to Cecil, Aug. 19, and Loftus to Sussex, Sept. 3 (in Wright’s Queen Elizabeth). Thomas Lancaster to Cecil, Aug. 16.]

Desmond will not help Shane. Sidney goes to Ulster

Shane O’Neill felt that he was near the end of his tether, and made a strong effort to create a diversion in Munster. He reminded the Desmonds that he had often defended their interests, which were identical with his own, and that there was now a grand opportunity of defeating the English policy, which was as hostile to the Norman as to the Celtic aristocracy. But Desmond turned a deaf ear and went in person to Sidney, even to that town of Drogheda which was traditionally hateful to his family, and offered to accompany him to Ulster with or without his followers. Sidney assigned him a post on the border, which he was to guard with the help of Lords Dunboyne, Power, and Delvin, and of Sir Warham St. Leger, who had charge of the affairs of Munster. Accompanied by Kildare, O’Donnell, and Maguire, the Deputy then began his northward march. After halting four days on the border of Louth to allow supplies to come up, Sidney marched towards Armagh. A lake, which is not easy to identify, was passed on the way, and in this lake there was one of the ancient dwellings called ‘crannoges,’ which were still used as hiding-places by the O’Neills. It was supposed that Shane deposited his money, plate, and prisoners in these primitive strongholds, and that may have made the Lord Deputy anxious to gain them. He describes the island as surrounded by a thick hedge, and ‘bearded with stakes and other sharp wood.’ A rude pontoon bridge was made with barrels, and a party advanced to the assault. But the soldiers crowded on to the planks till they were partly submerged, and thus destroyed the combustibles with which it was intended to burn the hedge and stockade. Two or three were drowned, and Sidney resolved to lose no more time.[118 - Shane O’Neill to John of Desmond, Sept. 9. Sidney to the Privy Council, Sept. 9 and 14.]

Sidney has it all his own way. Death of Shane Maguire

The army then advanced to Armagh, where Shane had burned the church and destroyed all the buildings that he could. In crossing the Blackwater, which was now very low, a further justification appeared for an autumn campaign. In some former expeditions undertaken in springtime all the provisions had been exhausted while waiting for the river to become fordable. Shane’s chief residence at Benburb was found in ruins, and on the tenth day Clogher was reached. Some of the corn had been carried off, but the greater part was still accessible, and all within a circuit of twenty-four miles was destroyed. While lagging in the rear with some horse Kildare was here attacked by the O’Neills, and had a narrow escape. Near Omagh Shane Maguire died on the march, just as he was about to be restored to his own. At or near Castlederg Shane showed himself in the rear, but did not venture even to skirmish, though the ground was very unfavourable to English troops, and though he had near 5,000 men with him. At the ruined castle of Lifford, Randolph met Sidney and satisfied him that Derry, with its church and other stone houses, was the best place for a fortress. On the right bank of the Foyle opposite to the entrenchment the whole army halted. O’Dogherty and the Bishop of Derry, who was of his family, then came to Sidney; but none of the O’Donnells appeared, and the Lord Deputy found it necessary to enter Tyrconnel in person. The Foyle was accordingly passed, not without difficulty, and leaving six companies and six weeks’ provisions with Randolph, he marched by Raphoe through Barnesmore gap into Tyrconnel, and arrived at Donegal without seeing an enemy. He was joined on the march by O’Boyle, by two chiefs of the MacSwineys, by O’Gallagher, and by the Bishop of Raphoe, one of those prelates who had attended the Council of Trent. Donegal was taken formal possession of, and then delivered to O’Donnell, as was also Ballyshannon. The Erne was then passed in boats brought from Donegal, and Shane’s people abandoned Belleek Castle, which they vainly tried to burn, and which Sidney gave up to the O’Donnells to hold of the Queen. Passing between Lough Melvin and the sea, the army marched unopposed to Sligo. O’Connor surrendered the castle, which he desired to hold of the Queen independently of O’Donnell. Sidney directed him to pay one year’s rent pending a regular trial of the title, and then proceeded to Boyle by the pass over the Curlew mountains, ‘the foulest place that ever we passed in Ireland.’ The value of the fertile plains of Boyle was apparent to Sidney, who regretted that they were spoiled by local wars and yielded nothing to her Majesty. From Boyle the army went by Roscommon to Athlone, where the Shannon was passed by swimming, some baggage horses being lost. ‘Thanks be to God,’ said Sidney, ‘in all this painful and long journey there died not of sickness above three persons, and the rest in such health as the like hath not been seen in so long a journey in this land, and the horses also in better plight than with so great travail they could have been in the beginning of the year. And like as by this journey your Majesty hath recovered to your obedience a country of seventy miles in length and forty-eight miles in breadth, and the service of 1,000 men now restored to O’Donnell, and so united and confirmed in love towards him, as they be ready to follow him whithersoever he shall lead them, so is your Majesty’s name grown in no small veneration among the Irishry, who now see cause to appeal to your justice; and by this restitution of O’Donnell receive both hope and fear to be defended in their well-doing, and chastised for the contrary.’[119 - Sidney, Kildare, Bagenal, and Agard to the Queen, Nov. 12.]

Randolph at Derry. Death of Calvagh O’Donnell

After Sidney’s departure Randolph found his position one of great difficulty. The people had no other idea of trade than to extort exorbitant prices. The supplies were inadequate, and the soldiers were quickly reduced from cheese and bacon to bread and pease only. Their clothes soon wore out, and messengers had to be sent into the Irish districts for frieze and to England for shirts and shoes. Intrenching tools failed, for twenty dozen spades and shovels had been used up, and O’Donnell could not rebuild Lifford without help. Powder ran low. There were no boats to carry horses. The men sickened. An unexpected event added still further to their perplexity. As old Calvagh O’Donnell was riding towards Derry on his way to attack Tyrone his horse stumbled and fell, and he was seized with a fit, which soon carried him off. He lived just long enough to call his chief clansmen round him, to speak of the Queen’s kindness, and to adjure them to serve her and to fulfil every promise that he had made. His brother Hugh was quickly chosen to succeed him, but the confusion probably hindered supplies from reaching the garrison at Derry. Shane seized the opportunity to invade Tyrconnel, but O’Dogherty gave warning and the fords were closely watched. Randolph routed the assailants with great slaughter, and only one man fell on the English side; but that one was the commander, and his loss was not easily supplied.[120 - Randolph to Cecil, Oct. 27, 1566 (the day after O’Donnell’s death); Sidney to the Privy Council, Nov. 12; Captain Thomas Wilsford to Cecil, Nov. 15; Edward Horsey to Cecil, Nov. 21; George Vaughan to Winter, Dec. 18; Sidney to Cecil, Jan. 18, 1567; Four Masters, 1566.]

Sidney goes to Munster. Great disorder everywhere

Determined not to let O’Neill rest, Sidney ordered a general hosting against the O’Reillys, O’Hanlons, and others of his partisans, which is only so far noteworthy in that Desmond and the White Knight co-operated with Sir Warham St. Leger, who had been acting as chief commissioner in Munster, and whom it was at this time intended to make Lord President. Butlers and Geraldines continued nevertheless to plunder one another, Sidney refusing to decide their cause without the help of English lawyers, and the Queen pressing him continually in Ormonde’s interest. In the meantime he could see the state of Munster for himself. He found the Queen’s County and Kilkenny in pretty good order, and very prosperous compared to what he had formerly seen there. Ormonde’s brother Piers was arraigned for breaking into a gaol and releasing men charged with felony, and on confession was respited during the Queen’s pleasure. Edward, another brother of the Earl, distinguished himself by apprehending certain outlaws who annoyed the Fitzpatricks, and who were sheltered in Tipperary. The Fitzpatricks were, however, in the habit of retaliating on Kilkenny. The O’Carrolls Sidney found quiescent, and their chief willing to pay rent to the Queen, and anxious for a peerage. Between the Fitzpatricks, the Desmonds, and the Butlers themselves, Tipperary was in evil case, suffering especially from ‘the excessive train of horsemen and footmen led and kept there by the younger brethren of the Earl of Ormonde, who rather consumed than defended the goods of the poor country.’

The Palatinate of Tipperary

Indeed, those who bore authority under the Earl showed neither justice, judgment, nor stoutness in the Deputy’s opinion, and the townsmen of Clonmel, Cashel, and Fethard, sustained him in his dislike of the palatinate jurisdiction. Trade was so much interrupted by violence that the towns underwent the inconveniences of a perpetual siege. Lord Dunboyne with his brother and son were sent to Dublin Castle. ‘If maintenance of proclaimed rebels,’ said Patrick Sherlock, openly at Fethard in his lordship’s presence and in that of the Deputy, ‘murderers, and burners of corn and houses, are treason to the Queen’s person, then I have to accuse him of treason.’ Edward Butler was tried at Clonmel and acquitted, yet Sidney thought a good moral effect would result from the mere fact of bringing the Earl’s brother into court.

Waterford

The county of Waterford was also disturbed by the Power kerne and others, who had been used to live by coyne and livery. That exaction having been repressed by St. Leger and his colleagues, they betook themselves to undisguised rapine. Lord Power was also sent to the Castle, as the best means of inducing his followers to amend their lives. Sir Maurice Fitzgerald’s county contrasted favourably both with Lord Power’s and with the Desmond territory about Youghal, but the chief was somewhat too ready to take the law into his own hands.

Cork

Youghal itself had suffered much from pirates. Here Desmond appeared, and Sidney went into the controversy about the possession of Kilsheelan and some other manors. He found that Ormonde was in the right, and from the time that decision was given Desmond gave him all the trouble in his power. ‘Your name,’ said the Deputy to Queen Elizabeth, ‘is no more reverenced, nor letters of commandment obeyed, within any place within his rule, than it would be in the kingdom of France.’ But the greater part of the noblemen and gentlemen of Cork came to Sidney craving justice and protection against the Desmond tyranny.

Horrible destitution of the people

The absence of a stable government and the trade with Spain had, in Sidney’s opinion, so weakened the Crown that Philip might, with 3,000 men and 20,000l., become supreme in Munster and Connaught, which 20,000 men and 100,000l. would not suffice to recover. The whole county of Cork was waste, the villages burned, and everywhere were exposed ‘bones and skulls of the dead subjects, who, partly by murder, partly by famine, have died in the fields, as in troth hardly any Christian with dry eyes could behold.’ Women upon the point of becoming mothers were murdered by one of Desmond’s vassals, and the Earl lodged and feasted in the murderer’s house. ‘Surely,’ said Sidney, ‘there was never people that lived in more misery than they do, nor as it should seem of worse minds, for matrimony among them is no more regarded in effect than conjunction between unreasonable beasts. Perjury, robbery, and murder counted allowable. Finally, I cannot find that they make any conscience of sin, and I doubt whether they christen their children or no; for neither find I place where it should be done, nor any person able to instruct them in the rules of a Christian; or if they were taught I see no grace in them to follow it; and when they die I cannot see they make any account of the world to come.’[121 - Desmond to Sidney, Jan. 4, 1567. Sidney to the Queen, April 20.]

Desmond’s boasts. He is sent as prisoner to Dublin

Desmond, who was given to bravado, attempted to overawe Sidney, who had but 200 men with him. He boasted that he would never dispense with the old state of his family, but would have five gallowglasses where he had formerly had one. He secretly directed his dependents to make a show of force, but Sidney told him that he would hold him responsible if anything happened, and finally sent him through Clare and Connaught a prisoner to Dublin. He did not, however, believe that rebellion was meant, but merely empty display. In the meantime the English Government received information which, had it been earlier available, would have prevented Desmond’s last enlargement.[122 - Sidney to the Queen, April 20.]

Sidney continues his journey. Limerick

Galway

At Limerick, Sidney was received by the Bishop, Hugh Lacy, in full pontificals, and with much ceremony of an entirely Roman character. The city he found much decayed, partly through the misdeeds of Desmond, but more through those of the Earl of Thomond, who was both incompetent and treacherous. Galway more ‘resembled a town of war, frontiering upon an enemy, than a civil town in a country under the sovereign. They watch their walls nightly, and guard their gates daily with armed men.’ Clanricarde’s sons John and Ulick, by two wives both living, were the chief disturbers of the West, and they too were sent prisoners to Dublin. The town of Athenry was deserted, four families only remaining, who greeted the Viceroy with cries of ‘Succour, succour.’ Clanricarde’s own country was in pretty good condition, and Sidney found nothing to complain of in his conduct, but he was quite unable to keep his sons in check.[123 - Ibid.]

Sidney’s opinion of the Munster and Connaught gentry. He advises a President

After spending nearly three months in Munster and Connaught, Sidney came to the conclusion that they did not contain the seeds of reformation within themselves. Ormonde indeed did not lack ability; but he was absent, and likely to be absent, and his work could not be done by deputy. He summed up the qualifications of the other great lords in a few pithy sentences. ‘The Earl of Desmond, a man both void of judgment to govern and will to be ruled. The Earl of Clancare I suppose willing enough to be ruled, but wanteth force and credit to rule. The Earl of Thomond, the most imperfect of all the rest; hath neither wit of himself to govern, nor grace or capacity to learn of others. The Earl of Clanricarde, equal in all good parts with the best of his coat of this country breed, both of good judgment to rule and also of himself of great humbleness to obey your Majesty and your laws, is yet so ruled by a putative wife, as oft times when he best intendeth she forceth him to do worst.’ It was of small avail that the Lord Roche’s country in Cork was pretty well managed, or that O’Shaughnessy, the son of him whom Henry VIII. knighted, should be an exception among the gentlemen of Galway. A President and Council for each province had been long advocated by Sidney, who reiterated his opinion that nothing else would be of any avail. He condemned, with becoming indignation, what an important public man had some years before called ‘the old and necessary policy of keeping the Irish by all possible means at war between themselves.’ If this cowardly system of fostering dissensions, lest quiet should bring unknown danger, were still persisted in, then he begged the Queen to choose some other minister. Ireland could only be reformed by justice, and by making it possible to practise the arts of peace.[124 - Sidney to the Queen, April 20, 1567; Sir John Mason to the Privy Council, June 29, 1550, printed by Fraser Tytler.]

Death of Randolph. Fate of the Derry settlement

After Randolph’s death the settlement at Derry went from bad to worse. The encampment had been made over the burying-ground, and the miasma did its work. The commissariat officer was afraid to send his vessel away for fear of weakening the garrison, every officer seeking a passage for his friends. Discipline could hardly be maintained, and there was great lack of necessaries. Storage room there was none, and the enfeebled men were daily harassed by bringing supplies from the ships. News seldom penetrated to that remote spot, whither ‘no man travels by which men might have some understanding before now. God send me, if it be His will, once into England, and there to beg my bread if I be not able to labour rather than here to be a lord… I am weary of my life, and all for want of the colonel.’ Edward Saintloo was sent to take Randolph’s place, and the mere fact of there being a man in authority worked wonders. ‘Before, we were like godless people without a head or a guide.’ Saintloo brought some stores, but in bad order and partly spoiled by one of the vessels taking ground in the bay. ‘That which was saved hath come in an ill pickle, but yet are we glad of it, for our meal was almost done and our mills not able to grind so fast as we did eat. Sir, the provision of meal is not like London, for it is coarse meal, and was never bolted, but even as it came out of the mills, so packed into great cakes.’ Nothing could be bought but at exorbitant rates, and the new colonel calculated that, out of their pay of only 14s. a month, the men had to pay 10s. 2d. for food, leaving only 3s. 10d. for clothing, wood, turf, bedding, straw, and other necessaries. To obtain provisions, and perhaps to put heart into his troops, he made a raid upon the O’Cahans, who still adhered to Shane, and brought off vast numbers of cattle. But the sickness continued, and soon there were but 200 able men out of 600. It was decided to remove the garrison to Coleraine or Strangford, but before measures could be taken the settlement had ceased to exist. The sparks from the forge, driven by a high wind, set fire to the magazine, which had once been a church, or part of a church, and thirty men were killed by the explosion. The survivors took what boats they could find, and the majority made their way to Carrickfergus. Some were driven ashore, and were hospitably treated by Tirlogh Luineach O’Neill. The Queen, seeing that the accident was by God’s ordinance, bore her loss well; but the devout natives maintained that St. Columba had appeared in the shape of a very large and particularly hairy wolf, that he had taken a good mouthful of sparks out of the blacksmith’s shop, and that he had then disgorged them into the magazine.[125 - G. Vaughan to Winter, Dec. 18, 1566, and Jan. 13, 1567; Saintloo to Sidney, Jan. 13 and Feb. 8; Wilsford to Cecil, Feb. 16; Winchester to Sidney, March 26; Privy Council to Sidney, May 12; O’Sullivan Beare, Hist. Cath. iii. 5.]

The O’Donnells totally defeat Shane,

The evacuation of Derry left the road into Tyrconnel once more open, and Shane doubtless supposed that it was at his mercy. He advanced with a large force to the ford over the Swilly, now called Farsetmore, near Letterkenny. O’Donnell was in the neighbourhood, and hastily sent messengers to collect his friends. Sending the few horse at his disposal to skirmish with Shane’s vanguard, he drew his men, who did not exceed 400, into a strong position, and there addressed them; telling his clansmen that death was far preferable to the insults which they had of late years suffered at O’Neill’s hands. They at once marched to attack Shane’s camp, and found his men, who probably confided in their number, in a state of unreadiness. A great slaughter followed, and the O’Neills fled to the ford which they had crossed in the morning. But it was now high water, and of those who escaped the sword the greater number were drowned. Shane escaped in the confusion, crossed the Swilly a little higher up, and made his way into Tyrone. His loss was variously estimated at 1,300, and at 3,000, and he never collected another army. He at one time thought of appearing before Sidney with a rope round his neck and begging for mercy. What he did was to place himself in the power of the MacDonnells, of whom a strong force had just landed at Cushendun, under the command of Alexander Oge, who had come over at Sidney’s request, and who remained in communication with him. To him Shane now sent proposals for a permanent alliance against the English.[126 - The MacDonnells landed May 18; Alexander Oge to Sidney, May 20; Lancaster to Cecil, May 31.]

who is killed by the Scots

Alexander agreed to a meeting, and Shane, accompanied by the unfortunate countess, and by Sorley Boy, who was still his prisoner, directed his steps towards Red Bay. His escort was reduced to fifty horse. The Scots made a feast to welcome their visitor, and after dinner Shane’s secretary was accused of circulating the report that James MacDonnell’s widow was about to marry the man who had killed her husband. The secretary incautiously said that O’Neill was a meet partner, not only for their chief’s wife, but for Mary of Scotland, who was a widow at this time. Shane, who had been indulging as usual in wine or whisky, came up at the moment and took part in the altercation. The Scots drew their dirks, and almost cut him to pieces. The body was thrown into an old chapel hard by, and Captain Piers of Carrickfergus, who had all along plotted for this conclusion, managed to get possession of the head, which he sent, preserved in salt, to Sidney. Piers received 1,000 marks, the reward which Sidney had placed on the head, and the ghastly trophy was stuck on a pole over the gate of Dublin Castle, where it was seen by the historian Campion four years later. Shane’s entire body had been valued at 1,000l., 500l. being the sum promised by proclamation for simply killing him. The trunk was buried in the Franciscan monastery at Glenarm, and it is said that monks from Armagh came afterwards to claim it. ‘Have you,’ said the prior, ‘brought with you the remains of James MacDonnell, Lord of Antrim and Cantire, who was buried among strangers at Armagh?’ A negative answer was given, and the prior said: ‘While you continue to tread on the grave of James, Lord of Antrim and Cantire, know ye, that we here in Glenarm will trample on the dust of your great O’Neill.’[127 - O’Donovan’s Four Masters; Hill’s MacDonnells of Antrim, p. 145; Fitzwilliam to Cecil, June 10, 1567; Campion; Hooker; Lancaster to Cecil, May 31.]

Character of Shane O’Neill

‘Shane the Proud,’ as his countrymen called him, was perhaps the ablest of Elizabeth’s Irish opponents. He intrigued at different times with Spain, with France, and with Scotland; but he received no foreign help. In practice he regarded the Pope as lightly as the Queen, but he saw clearly enough that it was his interest to pose as the Catholic champion. The Pope, however, had not yet excommunicated the Queen, nor was either France or Spain prepared to court the hostility of England. Scottish politicians thought it worth while to keep him in good humour, but mainly as a means of increasing their own value with Elizabeth. Alone he bore the brunt of the contest, and he must have cost the English Crown a sum altogether out of proportion to his own resources. Ware says that 3,500 soldiers were sacrificed in this service, and that it cost the Queen more than 147,000l. over and above all local imposts and all damage done to the country. Shane was cruel and tyrannical, and his moral character was as bad as possible, though not much worse than that of Clanricarde, or perhaps of some other chiefs in that rude age. He had an Oriental want of scruple about murdering inconvenient people, and he had no regard for truth. He is said to have been a glutton, and was certainly a drunkard. We are told that he used to bury himself in the ground to recover from his orgies, ‘by which means,’ says the chronicler, ‘though he became in some better plight for the time, yet his manners and conditions daily worse.’ The love of liquor probably caused his death. By far the most remarkable Irishman of his time, he cannot be regarded as in any sense a national hero. His ambition was limited to making himself supreme in Ulster. Had he been allowed to oppress his own province, and perhaps to levy some blackmail beyond its border, it is not likely that he would have troubled the Pale, or denied the titular sovereignty of England. Being such as he was, the vast majority of Irishmen probably rejoiced at his fall, and the Irish annalists do not pretend that he was much loss, except to his own tribe.[128 - Ware says he bases on Exchequer accounts his estimate of the cost of the wars with Shane O’Neill. ‘It amounted unto 147,407l. over and above the cesses laid on the country, and the damage sustained by the subject; and there were no less than 3,500 of her Majesty’s soldiers slain by Shane and his party during that time, besides what they slew of the Irish and Scots.’ The Four Masters say: ‘Grievous to the race of Owen, son of Nial, was the death of him who was slain, for Shane O’Neill had been their champion in provincial dignity and in time of danger and prowess.’ Campion. Hooker’s Chronicle in Holinshed.]

No millennium follows Shane’s death

The Irish Council seem to have expected little less than a millennium now that the arch-disturber was removed. The Ulster chiefs hurried to make their submissions, and Tirlogh Luineach, who had immediately assumed the name of O’Neill, thought it wise to apologise for so doing. Tirlogh was willing to pay for his own pardon as many kine as might be awarded by Sidney and Kildare, to keep the peace for the future, and to entertain no Scots without special licence. Sir Brian MacPhelim, chief of Clandeboye, and the most important O’Neill after Tirlogh, had served against Shane and received Elizabeth’s thanks, as did also O’Donnell. The Council informed the Queen that all were now at her foot, and cried ‘first for justice, and then for mercy.’ But the old Treasurer Winchester had seen too much in his time to take a very sanguine view. The expense had been great, and could not be continued indefinitely. ‘Irishmen,’ he reminded Sidney, ‘be full of policy, and wit, and mistrust, and will soon alter themselves from the best, as you yourself knoweth well.’[129 - Lord Chancellor and Council to the Queen, June 28; Winchester to Sidney, July 1; Tirlogh Luineach submitted on June 18; the Queen’s Letters of Thanks, July 5.]

Sidney and the Queen

Elizabeth herself was not disposed to make light of Shane’s overthrow and death. ‘We do very well,’ her Majesty wrote to Sidney, ‘allow your painful service and good wisdom herein used, and are very glad, even for your own sake, that God has used you under us as the principal minister to procure so great and singular a benefit, as by the permission of God’s favour is like hereby to ensue to that whole realm. And in this, our allowing and praising of you, we would have you well to note, that in reprehending you for other things not allowable to us, we were not moved thereto by any offence or misliking of yourself, but of the matters. For, indeed, we otherwise think so well of you for the faithfulness to us, and the painfulness in service, as yourself could prescribe. And thus much we have thought not impertinent to let you know how well we think of you for this service done in Ulster.’ Sidney, it seems, had heard that the Queen intended to deprive him of the Presidency of Wales, and had written angrily to say that in that case he should resign the government of Ireland. Elizabeth had retorted very tartly that the two offices were always held at pleasure, and had never been in the same hands before, and that she should do as she pleased, ‘and so also it is meet for you to think and conform yourself.’ The same letter contained other sharp expressions, with an intimation that they would have been sharper yet if Sidney’s ‘travayles had not contrepassed.’ Knowing the Deputy’s fiery temper, Cecil thought it wise to apply a salve, and the same packet which brought the royal missive brought one from him. ‘The Queen’s Majesty,’ he wrote, ‘hath contrary to all our opinions and requests that be your friends, written more roundly to you than either I know you overmuch to deserve, or than I trust she conceiveth in her mind. I can advise you to use patience with the buckler of your sincerity, and I doubt not but your service, succeeding so fortunately as it doth otherwise, will bring you to your heart’s desire. In your service all men of good judgment find great cause of allowance of you, and before Almighty God with my whole heart I wish myself with you to take part of good fortune. For I trust to see your recovery of the crown in Ireland in deed, that is only now had in title.’ The fact is that it went to the Queen’s frugal heart to see even her ablest servant holding two great places at once. Afterwards, when Sidney was at Court, she said that it was no wonder he made a gallant show, for that he had two of the best offices in her kingdom.[130 - Naunton’s Fragmenta Regalia; the Queen to Sidney, June 11 and July 6; Cecil to Sidney, June 11.]

Sidney dislikes Ormonde. Attempts at maintaining justice in the South

Elizabeth thought that Sidney leaned to Desmond’s side in his controversy with Ormonde, and it is certain that he was less favourable to the latter than her Majesty wished. Ormonde distinctly belonged to the party opposed to Leicester, and Sidney was Leicester’s brother-in-law. The Queen accordingly accused him of culpable slackness in arresting Desmond, and of proposing to confer the Presidency on Sir Warham St. Leger, who had an hereditary feud with the chief of the Butlers, and who scarcely concealed his partiality. Desmond, on the contrary, after he had been two months under restraint, complained bitterly that he had expected better usage from Sidney, that he was a prisoner for no reason, and that it would be grossly unjust to decide his cause in his absence. His enemy, he added, had already every advantage of favour and of education.

In the meantime efforts were made to extend the administration of justice in the country districts. At Maryborough a jury was found to condemn a malefactor, who was executed. At Carlow also the assizes passed over quietly. In Kilkenny was found plenty of all but money, and such ‘strife for land’ that one acre was better than ten had been. The irregularity of legal process may be gathered from the fact that Kilkenny Castle contained many rogues and masterless men who had remained apparently untried since the time of Edward VI., and whom the judge of assize did not think it necessary to deliver until the Lord Deputy’s pleasure should be known. Men of family were treated differently; for one of the Fitzpatricks, who had been tried and acquitted, being re-committed on a new charge, was enlarged by the gaoler on his own responsibility.[131 - Desmond to Cecil, June 24; similar letters were sent to the Queen and to the Lord Treasurer Winchester; Fitzsimons to the Lord Deputy, June 26.]

The Geraldines and Butlers continue their feud

Desmond begged Winchester to interfere on his behalf. The Lord Treasurer declined to espouse his cause openly, but privately informed Sidney that if he wished justice done he must come to Court himself, and bring Desmond with him. The Queen daily uttered sharp speeches against the Earl; and Sidney alone, while his great services were fresh, could hope to mollify her. Winchester advised a retinue of not more than six men, to save expense and to avoid any appearance of ostentation. For some time the Queen insisted that Desmond should be arraigned, and, if possible, condemned in Ireland before being sent over, but Sidney persuaded her to be satisfied with having him indicted only. Fitzwilliam, who was a strong partisan of Ormonde, wrote at the same time to complain that Sir John of Desmond would not come near the Judges of Assize, and that the Geraldines continued to spoil the Butlers with impunity. The assizes in other places were rather more successful. At Maryborough the abolition of coyne and livery, imperfect as it was, was generally approved. The poor people began for the first time to feel that they had a worthy prince, and that they were subjects instead of slaves. It was quaintly said that the people in their delight ‘fell to such plays and pastimes as the like was never seen in Ireland.’ Lands long waste were again inhabited, rents had trebled, the markets were thronged with dealers and produce. ‘Up to this time,’ said George Wyse of Waterford, ‘this poor country had in manner no feeling of good order, neither knew the poor fools God nor their prince, but as a "menye" of brute beasts lived under the miserable rule of their ungodly Irish lords. Now God be praised the world is otherwise framed.’[132 - Winchester to Sidney, July 17 and Aug. 10; Cecil to Sidney, and the Queen to same, Aug. 20; Fitzwilliam to Cecil, Aug. 22; George Wyse to Cecil, June 20.]