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

It has been generally stated that Henry, before he had been a year on the throne, heard that Kildare was plotting against him. From what happened later, it is likely that such a report would not have been without foundation. Perhaps there was some evidence of his complicity in Lord Lovel’s abortive insurrection, and it is highly probable that he was a party to the plot which the Duchess of Burgundy was hatching against the King of England.[49 - It is hard to say whether the instructions for John Estrete, attributed by Mr. Gairdner to the very beginning of Henry’s reign, are by him or by Richard III. Henry would hardly have promised to make Kildare Deputy for ten years on condition of his going to Court, and the allusions to Edward IV. are more likely to have been made by Richard. —Letters of Richard III. and Henry VII., vol. i. p. 91. The three letters in the Appendix cannot be earlier than 1488.] Except on the supposition that he had already been admitted to the conspirator’s confidence, it is hard to see how Kildare can have received Lambert Simnel and his promoter, a young and undistinguished priest, without hesitation or inquiry. There was no Lancastrian party in Dublin, and Henry’s politic exhibition of the real Earl of Warwick had no effect upon men who were determined to accept the counterfeit. In common with almost every temporal grandee, the Archbishop of Dublin and the Bishops of Meath and Kildare espoused the pretender’s cause; but Octavian, Archbishop of Armagh, a Florentine, and well informed, remained firm, and was supported by the Bishop of Clogher. Henry afterwards asked the Pope to excommunicate the prelates who had favoured the pretender, and it is remarkable that he mentions the Archbishop of Armagh as one of them. Among the temporal peers, Lord Howth had the sense to see that Henry would be victorious, and he kept him well informed of all that went on in Ireland.[50 - Writing to Morton or Fox, Octavian says, ‘Profano coronationis pueri in Hiberniâ sceleri, me solo excepto, nullus obstitit manifeste.’ This hardly gives due credit to the Bishop of Clogher. —Letters of Richard III. and Henry VII., vol. i. p. 383. Henry’s letter to Pius II. is at p. 94. ‘Armachanensis’ must be a mistake on the King’s part.]

Simnel is crowned King

Simnel remained in Ireland, and published acts were done in his name as King until the arrival of Lincoln and Lovel, with Martin Swart, an experienced German leader, and 2,000 veterans of his nation, sent by Margaret of Burgundy. Lambert was crowned in Christ Church with a diadem borrowed for the occasion from a statue of the Virgin, and was shown to the people borne aloft on the shoulders of Darcy of Platten, the tallest man of his time – details which bespeak the poverty of the country. A coronation sermon was preached by the Bishop of Meath.[51 - Lambert was crowned May 2, 1487.]

Kildare ordered the citizens of Waterford to join him with all their forces, but the mayor, who was a Butler, filled the town with the vassals of the House of Ormonde, and the clans depending on it, and returned for answer that they held all as traitors who had taken any part in the mock coronation. Kildare hanged the poor groom who had brought this message, an act of barbarity with which the Archbishop was much offended, and then repeated his summons. The herald, who bore the Geraldine arms on his tabard, was refused admission to Waterford, and summoned the citizens from a boat, ordering them instantly to proclaim King Edward VI. on pain of being hanged at their own doors. With becoming spirit the chief magistrate replied, that they would not give the Earl so much trouble, that they looked on all his partisans as traitors, and that they were ready to give him battle thirty miles away. Kilkenny, Clonmel, Callan, Fethard, and other towns followed the example of Waterford.[52 - Book of Howth, and an account in Carew (followed by Smith), iv. p. 473.]

Battle of Stoke, 1487

There was some division of opinion between the partisans of Simnel as to whether England should be immediately invaded. Two reasons in favour of this course prevailed over those for establishing a separate government in Ireland. The country was too poor to support 2,000 German mercenaries, and the Irish followers of Kildare, who cared little for either rose, promised themselves much pleasure from fighting and plundering in hated England. Accordingly, just a month after the mock coronation, Lambert and his friends left Dublin and landed at Foudray in Lancashire, where they were joined by Sir Thomas Broughton and some of his tenants. ‘But their snowball,’ in Bacon’s phrase, ‘did not gather as they went,’ and they advanced as far as Newark without materially increasing their force. The popularity which Henry had gained during his late stay at York, and the general pardon which he had given, went far to break up the Yorkist party in the North, ‘and it was an odious thing to Englishmen to have a King brought in to them upon the shoulders of Irish and Dutch.’ At Stoke, the pretender’s motley host came into collision with the far more numerous royal army. The Germans fought well, and so did their few English allies; ‘neither did the Irish fail in courage or fierceness, but being almost naked men, only armed with darts and skeans, it was rather an execution than a fight upon them.’ At least 4,000 of the pseudo-Yorkists fell, including Martin Swart, the Earl of Lincoln, and Kildare’s brother, the Irish Chancellor, Thomas Fitzgerald. Lord Lovel and Sir Thomas Broughton may have escaped for a time, but they were never heard of again. It appears from a passage in the ‘Annals of Ulster,’ where Henry VII. is contemptuously mentioned as ‘the son of a Welshman,’ that the native Irish believed Simnel to be what he pretended to be – the last prince of the blood royal.[53 - Bacon; Book of Howth; O’Donovan’s Four Masters, ad ann. 1485. The battle of Stoke was fought June 16, 1487.]

Loyalty of Waterford

The loyalty of Waterford deserved special thanks, and Henry sent a letter to the mayor and citizens, in which he expressed his hearty gratitude. To show his perfect confidence he commanded them to pursue and harass the Earl of Kildare and the citizens of Dublin, both by sea and land. The trade of the Irish capital was placed at their mercy, and they were exhorted not to desist from hostilities until ‘our rebel, the Earl of Kildare,’ – who was also our Deputy – and his Dublin allies were brought to due obedience. Kildare sent messengers to England to make his peace, and the citizens of Dublin did likewise. ‘We were daunted,’ said the latter plausibly enough, ‘to see not only the chief governor, whom your Highness made ruler over us, to bend or bow to that idol whom they made us to obey, but also our Father of Dublin, and most of the clergy of the nation.’ After some hesitation, Henry resolved to pardon all the Irish conspirators, and even allowed Kildare to remain in the office of Deputy. In return for their pardons the nobility were required to take the oath of allegiance; and to secure its proper administration the King resolved to send a special commissioner to Ireland. Sir Richard Edgcombe, Controller of the Household, whom he had already employed on a diplomatic mission to Scotland, was the person chosen for this delicate duty.[54 - Henry’s letter to Waterford is in Smith’s Waterford; the letter of the Dublin people in Ware’s Annals.]

Mission of Sir Richard Edgcombe, 1488

Sir Richard sailed from Fowey with a squadron of four vessels containing 500 men; and having tried in vain among the Scilly Islands and in the Bristol Channel to surprise certain pirates who infested those seas, he reached Kinsale on the fifth day, where he again failed to apprehend a notable pirate. Lord Barry Oge came on board to take the oath of allegiance. Edgcombe then landed, was met by Lord Courcy and the townsmen of Kinsale, received the keys of the town, and administered the oath to all persons of importance. Having granted a royal pardon, he sailed for Waterford, where he was loyally welcomed. Hearing that he had brought a pardon for Kildare, the citizens reminded him that the Earl was their bitterest enemy, and begged to be exempted from any jurisdiction which he or any other Irish lord might claim as Deputy. Sir Richard promised to advance the interests of Waterford at Court, and then went on to Dublin. Kildare kept the royal commissioner waiting for eight days, during part of which time he was entertained at Malahide, by a lady of the Talbot family. At last the Earl came to Thomas Court with 200 horse, and sent the Bishop of Meath and the Baron of Slane to conduct Sir Richard thither. On entering the room Edgcombe made no bow to the Lord Deputy, but bluntly delivered the King’s letters. Five days more were given for the rest of the lords to make an appearance, and Kildare retired to Maynooth to digest the letters and verbal messages. On the fourth day Sir Richard came by pressing invitation to Maynooth, and the Earl promised that he would do everything required of him; but he continued to interpose delays in coming to any official decision. Sharply reprimanded by the royal commissioner, the lords at last agreed to take the oath of allegiance; but refused to enter into recognisances for the forfeiture of their estates in case they should again lapse from their duty, plainly declaring that they would rather become Irishmen, every one of them. With an oath of allegiance Sir Richard was fain to be content, and he drew one in very stringent form, Henry being specially described as the ‘natural and right-wise’ King of England. To prevent tricks, the host, upon which the oath was taken, was consecrated by Edgcombe’s own chaplain. The nobility present, and the principal ecclesiastical dignitaries about Dublin, were sworn or did homage, and particularly bound themselves to support and execute the censures of the Church, as pronounced by the Bull of Innocent VIII. upon those who should rebel against the King of England. In that instrument the Pope had declared his belief that the Crown belonged to Henry by inheritance, by conquest, and by election, independently of, and in addition to his claim in right of Elizabeth of York. Among the commoners whom it was thought necessary to swear specially was Darcy of Platten, the tall man who had borne Lambert on his shoulders. The civic authorities of Dublin, Drogheda, and Trim, having been sworn before him in their own towns, Sir Richard embarked at Dalkey on the thirty-fourth day after his arrival at Kinsale. Of all Simnel’s partisans, Keating, Prior of Kilmainham, was the only one who did not receive a pardon.[55 - Sir Richard Edgcombe’s voyage, in Harris’s Hibernica.]

The Irish nobility summoned to England, 1489

Kildare sent the Bishop of Meath to England to watch his interests, and Octavian also sent an agent to procure for him the custody of the Great Seal. The Primate complained that Kildare, despite his recent oath, had begun plotting against him before Edgcombe had reached the English shore. ‘I know,’ he said, ‘for certain that if the said Earl of Kildare obtains the government of Ireland by royal authority, and has the Chancellor of Ireland also at his back, that I have no hope of quiet in Ireland.’ Henry did not give the seal to the Archbishop, but he summoned all the Irish nobility to Court; and all obeyed except Desmond and Fitzmaurice of Kerry. ‘My masters of Ireland,’ said the King, when giving them audience, ‘you will crown apes at length.’ Afterwards at dinner he gave point to this remark by ordering Lambert Simnel to hand wine to those who had so lately crowned him King. ‘None would have taken the cup out of his hand, but bade the great devil of hell him take, before that ever they saw him.’ ‘Bring me the cup if the wine be good,’ said the Lord of Howth, being a merry gentleman, ‘and I shall drink it off for the wine’s sake, and mine own sake also, and for thee, as thou art, so I leave thee, a poor innocent.’ Henry kept the lords at Court long enough for them to feel the expense burdensome, and then despatched them, making Lord Howth, who had alone remained loyal, a present of 300l. in gold, and the robe which he wore at the reception. Some of the others had expected little less than the axe for their reward.[56 - Book of Howth; Letters of Richard III. and Henry VII., vol. i. p. 384.]

Kildare Deputy till 1492. Butlers and Geraldines

The influence of Kildare was not much shaken by his complicity in Simnel’s adventure, and it was not till 1492 that he was deprived of the office of Deputy. It was conferred on Walter Fitz-Simons, Archbishop of Dublin. About the same time Rowland Fitz-Eustace, Baron of Portlester, the Earl’s uncle, who had been Lord Treasurer for thirty-eight years, was suddenly removed and threatened with a hostile inquiry into his accounts during the whole period. Sir James Ormonde, knighted by Henry in person, for his services against Lambert, was appointed in his room, and another Butler was made Master of the Rolls. The quarrel between the two Houses blazed up fiercely; and Kildare, to reassert his influence, summoned a great meeting of citizens on Oxmantown Green.

The two factions came to blows, some lives were lost, and Kildare attempted to seize the city by a sudden movement. The gates were, however, shut in time; but Ship Street, then outside the walls, was burned. The Geraldines wasted the Butler territory, and the Butlers in their turn ravaged Kildare and encamped in great force on the southern side of Dublin. A meeting of the two chiefs in St. Patrick’s Cathedral was then arranged. A riot took place in the church, a flight of arrows was discharged, and Sir James, suspecting treason, barred himself into the Chapter-house. The Earl came to the door with offers of peace, and a hole was cut in the timber through which the rivals might shake hands. Sir James hesitated to risk his hand, but Kildare settled the question by putting in his own. The door was then opened, they embraced each other, and peace followed for a time. To make amends for the desecration of the church, the Pope ordered that the mayor should go barefoot through the city on Corpus Christi day, and this practice was continued till the Reformation. The door with the hole in it is still preserved, or was so until very lately.[57 - The Earls of Kildare; Harris’s Dublin; Four Masters, ad ann. 1492.]

Perkin Warbeck lands 1491, but leaves the next year

‘Ireland at this time,’ says Ware, ‘was as it were a theatre or stage on which masked princes entered, though soon after, their visors being taken off, they were expulsed the stage.’ Perkin Warbeck landed at Cork late in 1491, or early in 1492, and was entertained by John Walters, an eminent merchant and future mayor. The citizens from the beginning insisted on regarding him as a royal personage, first as a son of Clarence, afterwards as a bastard of Richard III., and finally as Richard, Duke of York, Edward IV.’s younger son. Having adopted the latter character, Perkin wrote letters, extant in Ware’s time, in which he sought help from the Earls of Desmond and Kildare. The former at once espoused his cause; the latter, according to his own account, would have nothing to do with ‘the French lad.’ Desmond joined Perkin in soliciting the aid of James IV. of Scotland, and he remained for about a year at Cork, learning English, but apparently without exciting any anxiety in England. Towards the close of 1492 he withdrew to France, where Charles VIII. received him as a prince, and where he was joined by disaffected Yorkists. Henry having made a successful campaign in France, Perkin was dismissed and went to Flanders, where Margaret of Burgundy acknowledged him as her nephew, and no doubt instructed him how to fill the part.[58 - Ware; Gairdner’s Life of Richard III.; Letters of Richard III. and Henry VII., ii. 55.]

Parliament of 1493

In 1493 the Archbishop of Dublin held a Parliament, where many things were done unfavourable to the Geraldine faction; and on August 12, John Walters and other accomplices of the pretender were summoned to surrender. The Archbishop shortly went over to England, where he made Henry clearly acquainted with the state of affairs in Ireland, and was followed by Kildare, who had an opportunity of telling his own story. In consequence of what he had learned, the King resolved to appoint a Deputy unconnected with any Irish party; and fixed upon Sir Edward Poynings, whom he had already employed as envoy to the Archduke Philip, when remonstrating against the countenance given to Perkin in Flanders. While Archbishop Fitz-Simons was in England, Viscount Gormanston filled the office of Deputy, and even ventured to summons a Parliament; but the Duke of Bedford having in the meantime resigned the lieutenancy, his substitute’s action was afterwards declared null and void.

Sir Edward Poynings Deputy, 1494

Poynings landed at Howth on October 13, 1494, with 1,000 men. He was accompanied by Henry Dean, Bishop of Bangor and afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, as Chancellor, by Sir Hugh Conway as Treasurer, and by three other Englishmen appointed to the chief places in the three common law courts. Joining his forces with those of Kildare and of Sir James Ormonde, Poynings immediately undertook an expedition to Ulster, with a view of chastising O’Donnell, who had lately been honourably received in Scotland, and was probably implicated in Perkin’s project. When the army reached O’Hanlon’s county, Sir James Ormonde persuaded the Deputy that Kildare was plotting with the Irish against his life, and some colour was given to the charge by the conduct of the Earl’s brother James, who seized Carlow Castle, mounted the Geraldine banner, and refused to surrender when summoned in the King’s name. Having with difficulty reduced Carlow, Poynings repaired to Drogheda, where he held a Parliament, whose legislation was destined to have a momentous effect on Irish history. The invasion of Ulster was abandoned, and Bacon, with the experience of the next century, summarily disposes of it as ‘a wild chase on the wild Irish.’

Parliament of Drogheda, 1494

The Acts of this Parliament of 1494 are numerous, many of them being intended to make the administration more directly dependent on the Crown. Thus, the judges and other high officials were made to hold at the King’s pleasure, instead of by patent as had been customary heretofore. It was made illegal for great men to retain free citizens and burgesses in their pay, or for anyone to make war without the governor’s licence, or for anyone to stir up the Irish against the English. It was made unlawful to keep firearms without the Deputy’s licence. The Statutes of Kilkenny were confirmed or re-enacted, with the exception of those against using the Irish language and those obliging every subject to ride in a saddle. Family war cries, such as ‘Butleraboo’ and ‘Cromaboo,’ were strictly prohibited. Coyne and livery were visited with severe penalties; but advantageous terms were fixed, upon which the King might obtain provisions for his soldiers. All Acts against papal provisions theretofore made, either in England or Ireland, were declared to be in full force, though the Government had no means whatever of preventing them, or of making other arrangements for the vast majority of Irish benefices.[59 - Irish Statutes, 10 Henry VII., Dec. 1, 1494.]

Poynings’ Acts

The statutes known in after days as Poynings’ Acts were two in number. By the first it was enacted that no future Parliaments should be held in Ireland, ‘but at such season as the King’s Lieutenant and Council there first do certify the King under the great seal of that land (Ireland), the causes and considerations, and all such acts as them seemeth should pass in the same Parliament.’ Should the King in Council approve them, then the Irish Parliament should be summoned under the great seal of England, and not otherwise. By the second Act it was provided that all public statutes ‘late made within the said realm of England’ should be in force in Ireland. The lawyers decided that this applied to all English Acts prior to the tenth year of Henry VII. And thus the dependence of the Irish Parliament on that of England was established in the fullest degree.[60 - Ibid., chaps. iv. and xxii.]

Attainder of Kildare

Kildare was attainted by the Drogheda Parliament, the Act stating that he had provoked Irish enemies and English rebels to levy war against the King, that he had conspired with O’Hanlon to kill the Deputy, that he had caused his brother James to seize Carlow and hold it against the King, that he had used coyne and livery, and that he had conspired with the King of Scots and the Earl of Desmond for an invasion of Ireland. The Earl was arrested and sent to England, there to await Henry’s own judgment on these and other matters. The chief of the southern Geraldines had in the meantime again given his adhesion to the cause of Perkin Warbeck.[61 - Gilbert’s Viceroys, p. 454, and Ware. The Act is not in the printed statutes.]

Second visit of Perkin Warbeck. Siege of Waterford, 1495

Less than three weeks after his disgraceful failure in Kent, Perkin was with Desmond in Munster. Eleven ships, of which some were Scotch, attacked Waterford from the river, while Desmond and his Irish allies with 2,400 men threatened the city from the southern side. Poynings marched against the invaders in person; but the real work was done by the mayor and citizens, who dammed the stream called John’s River, so as to prevent Desmond from joining Perkin: while they battered the fleet with cannon planted on Reginald’s Tower. They made several sallies, killed their prisoners, and stuck their heads on stakes in the market-place. When the siege had lasted eleven days one of Perkin’s ships was sunk by the fire from the town, and the adventurer then fled precipitately. At least three vessels fell into the hands of the besieged or their allies, and the citizens followed Perkin to Cork, where his friends protected him. Afterwards he made his way to Scotland, where James IV. received him with the honours due to a prince, and gave him the hand of his cousin, Lady Catherine Gordon. James, who was of an ambitious and visionary turn of mind, may perhaps have thought it possible to restore the days of Bruce, and to conquer some part of Ireland for himself. Two successive O’Donnells acknowledged themselves his subjects, and with their help and that of sailors like the Bartons, Scotland might have disputed with England the possession of Northern Ireland at least. The elder Hugh O’Donnell, who died in 1505, was a man of considerable ability, the annalists, with their usual magniloquence, styling him the ‘Augustus of the North of Europe;’ and with more truth asserting that he was the most powerful person in the North of Ireland.[62 - Letters of Richard III. and Henry VII., vol. ii. pp. lxxvi. 237, 242, 299; Histories of Waterford, by Smith and Rylands; Four Masters and Annals of Lough Cé ad ann. 1505.]

Poynings leaves Ireland, 1496

Poynings quitted Ireland in January 1496, leaving the government in the Bishop of Bangor’s hands. Important as was the recent legislation, it cannot be said that Henry had made any real change in the system of government. His great idea, like that of his descendants, was to make Ireland pay her own expenses, and for that purpose he sent over two able officers, with instructions to overhaul the entire system of government. Plenty of zeal seems to have been shown, but the result was not encouraging. No year passed in Ireland without some small war, and the established custom of hiring native mercenaries tended to prevent any improvement. Sir James Ormonde and other leaders found their account in constant disturbance, and expense always more than kept pace with revenue.[63 - Letters of Richard III. and Henry VII., vol. ii. pp. 64 and 67.]

Friars employed by the Government

The accounts of Vice-Treasurer Hattecliffe, to whom Henry committed the control of Irish finance, seem to show that Poynings and others found a difficulty in obtaining the aid of subordinate officers. They had, however, a resource which Elizabeth lacked, in the power of employing priests and friars. Thus we find a Franciscan of Dublin sent to spy out the manners of the people inhabiting the marches of the Pale, and again acting as a messenger between the Council in Dublin and the Deputy in the field. A canon named John Staunton was sent to act as a spy ‘in Munster and elsewhere about the Earl of Desmond, Perkin Warbeck, and other rebels.’ On another occasion a Carmelite was the means of communication between the Government and Sir James Ormonde, and it is probable that many more of the messengers were clergymen, though the fact is not so mentioned.[64 - Hattecliffe’s accounts in Letters of Richard III. and Henry VII., vol. ii. pp. 297-318.]

Turbulence of the Geraldines. Restoration of Kildare, 1496

That there was no peace, and consequently no diminution of expense, is not to be altogether attributed to the rapacity of Sir James Ormonde and other leaders of kerne and gallowglasses. The Geraldines took care that the country should be disturbed during the Earl’s absence, as we find by the following significant entry: – ‘Two shillings to Philip Messanger for carrying the Lord Justice’s letters directed to Richard Paynteneye of Carbury, Edward Dowdall of Slane, to the sovereign of Athboy, and others, ordering them to have sundry fires made on sundry mountains – viz. the mountains of Tara, Lyons, Athboy, and Slane, to warn the King’s lieges in case James, the Earl’s son, and others the King’s Irish enemies, should bring a power to invade the English districts.’ Several other payments were made to the same messenger for services in connection with these Geraldine inroads, and Henry came gradually to think that Kildare did more harm as a prisoner than he could possibly do if he were at liberty. Whether the account of the Earl’s behaviour at Court, which has been copied from the ‘Book of Howth’ into most histories, be true or not, there can be little doubt that Henry thought it better that he should rule all Ireland, than that he should have further opportunities of showing that all Ireland could not rule him. The gravest charge against him was that of conspiring with O’Hanlon to murder Poynings, and this was disposed of by the evidence of O’Hanlon. Prince Henry became titular Lord-Lieutenant, the attainder was reversed by the English Parliament, and Kildare received a commission as Lord Deputy under the King’s son. His first wife, Alison Eustace, is said to have died through the agitation caused by his imprisonment, and he now added to his influence by marrying Elizabeth St. John, the King’s first cousin. Leaving his son Gerald as a hostage at the English Court, he returned to Dublin as soon as possible, received the sword from Deane, successfully invaded the O’Briens and Macnamaras, and was fully reconciled to the Archbishop of Armagh. The Great Seal was given to Fitzsimons, Archbishop of Dublin, a prelate who had the courage to tell Henry that a certain courtly orator flattered him too much. ‘Our father of Dublin,’ replied the King, ‘we minded to find the same fault ourselves.’[65 - Ware; Hattecliffe’s Accounts; Earls of Kildare.]

Warbeck’s third visit, 1497

On July 20, 1497, Perkin Warbeck again made his appearance at Cork. He got no help this time from Desmond, who had been pardoned, and who had perhaps made up his mind that the adventurer was an impostor. Sir James Ormonde was accused of favouring him. The citizens of Waterford at once gave Henry notice, and with four ships fitted out by themselves gave chase to Perkin, who found no encouragement in Ireland, and lost no time in going to join the Cornish malcontents. Narrowly escaping capture at sea, he managed to raise a force of 6,000 or 7,000 men, besieged Exeter and Taunton unsuccessfully, and then ran away without striking a blow, and took sanctuary at Beaulieu in Hampshire. The inglorious close of his career is unconnected with Ireland, and he seems on this last occasion to have had no Irish allies. The citizens of Waterford received from the King a cap of maintenance to be borne on certain occasions before the mayor, and the title of Urbs intacta, in which the city still glories. The sum of 1,000 marks which he had promised for the capture of Perkin was not, strictly speaking, earned by the Waterford men; and their loyal and, doubtless, very costly exertions, received no money recompense from the frugal King.[66 - Gairdner’s Richard III.; Smith’s Waterford, where is given the correspondence between Henry and the city; Carew, vol. v. p. 472, where the events of 1487, 1495, and 1497 are mixed up; Sir Piers Butler to the Earl of Ormonde, in Graves’s St. Canice, p. 193.]

Considerations as to Simnel and Warbeck

The modern historian, whose fortune it has been to clear up all doubts about Perkin Warbeck, takes Lord Bacon to task for overrating the excellence of the pretender’s acting. But Bernard Andreas, the principal if not the only contemporary writer, certainly gives one to understand that he played his part very plausibly.

‘Carried to Ireland by a fair wind he suborned with his very cunning temptations a great part of the barbarians of that island. For he unfolded and retold from his ready memory all the times of Edward IV., and without book repeated the names of all his familiars and servants as he had been taught them from a boy. He habitually added circumstances of time, place, and person, with which he very easily persuaded the levity of those men. And with the help of such figments the matter grew so important, that men of prudence and high nobility were induced to believe the same. What followed? Certain prophecies concerning him were scattered far and wide by false prophets, which completely blinded the mental perceptions of the common people.’

It must be admitted that Lord Bacon did not speak without considerable authority. A contemporary French poem, which was probably also written by Bernard Andreas, gives a very unflattering account of Ireland as a cave of robbers, ‘where is neither peace, love, nor concord, but only treasons and the foulest deeds.’ Such material help as the pretender received was entirely among the Anglo-Irish. The native annalists do not mention him, whereas Simnel is, at least by one writer, spoken of as an undoubted prince of the blood royal.[67 - Four Masters, with O’Donovan’s notes, under 1485. The ‘Annals’ of Andreas and the ‘Douze triomphes de Henri VII.,’ are in Memorials of Henry VII., ed. Gairdner.]

Sir Piers Butler kills Sir James Ormonde, 1497

Sir James Ormonde, whose mother was an O’Brien, used the help of his Irish connections to oppress Sir Piers Butler, whom he imprisoned, but afterwards released at Desmond’s request, ‘upon trust that he should have married the Earl’s daughter.’ One of Kildare’s first acts after his restoration was to summon Sir James to Dublin, and to proclaim him outlaw on his refusal. But this scarcely lessened his power in the Butler country, and did not even prevent him from assuming the title of Earl of Ormonde. Driven to great straits, Sir Piers asserted that his rival had imprisoned him ‘contrary to his oath and promise made upon the holy cross and other great relics … and that the same Sir James, not pondering his said oath and promise, showed openly that wheresoever he would find me he would kill me.’ After this Sir James, for the second time, refused to appear before the King. The two Butlers met accidentally in the open field between Dunmore and Kilkenny, and after a short struggle Sir James was slain.[68 - Sir Piers Butler to the Earl of Ormonde, in Graves’s St. Canice, p. 193. Stanihurst says Sir Piers waylaid his enemy.]

Consequent peace between Butlers and Geraldines

According to some accounts this encounter or murder, whichever it may be thought, was caused by Lady Margaret Butler’s complaint that she could get no wine, though in delicate health. ‘Truly, Margaret,’ he answered, ‘thou shalt have store of wine within this four and twenty hours, or else thou shalt feed alone on milk for me.’ One writer says that there were desperate odds against Sir Piers; and if this be true, and considering the then state of Ireland, the guilt of murder can hardly attach to him. The death of Sir James was decidedly beneficial to Ireland, for it made peace between the Houses of Kildare and Ormonde.[69 - All the authorities bearing on this event are collected in Graves’s St. Canice, pp. 193-198.]

Parliament of 1498

In 1498 Kildare received a commission to hold a Parliament which was not to last for more than six months. The first Act of this Parliament was to confirm the reversal of the Lord Deputy’s attainder, who by a singular anomaly thus exercised viceregal authority, notwithstanding the corruption of his own blood; the last to attaint Lord Barrymore and John Waters for their dealings with Perkin Warbeck. Waters was caught, found guilty by a Westminster jury, and hanged at Tyburn, alongside of the pretender. Lord Barrymore escaped arrest, but was murdered by his brother, the Archdeacon of Cork. Kildare visited and garrisoned Cork, forcing the chief inhabitants to take the oath of allegiance to Henry, and to give bonds for future good behaviour. Of the other Acts passed, the most important was one for the discouragement of Irish habits and weapons. Henceforth dwellers within the Pale were enjoined to wear only English dress, and to wield only ‘English artillery,’ such as swords, bucklers, pavesses, bows, arrows, bills, crossbows, guns, or such hand weapons – darts and spears being prohibited; and they were to ride in saddles in the English fashion.[70 - The Acts of this Parliament (supposed lost) are printed by Mr. Gilbert in his Facsimiles of Irish National MSS., vol. iii., from the English Patent Rolls. Ware; Four Masters.]

Kildare’s wars in Ulster. Cannon are used

It was Kildare’s fortune not only to give trouble himself, but to be the progenitor of those who were to give trouble in future. The rebellion of his grandson Thomas Fitzgerald was to cause the eclipse of his house. The descendants of his daughter Alice were to be the chief disturbers of the Elizabethan monarchy in Ireland. She had married Con More O’Neill, who was naturalised by Act of Parliament, and this gave her father a fair excuse for interfering in the affairs of Ulster. Con More had been treacherously killed by his brother Henry in 1493, and the murderer fought for supremacy with his brother Donnell. Henry was at first successful, and Donnell, whom Lady Alice appears to have favoured, could only keep up a desultory opposition. In 1497 a peace or truce was made, but in the following year Tirlough and Con, Lady Alice’s two young sons, killed Henry in revenge for their father’s death, and invited Kildare to come himself into Ulster. Besides his grandsons, the Lord Deputy had the help of Donnell O’Neill, of Maguire, of O’Donnell, and of most of the neighbouring clans against Henry O’Neill’s sons and partisans. Cannon were brought against Dungannon, which soon surrendered. Omagh was afterwards taken, and Donnell was established as chief of Tyrone. Firearms were perhaps first brought to Ireland in 1483, when six muskets, considered a great rarity, were sent from Germany as a present to Kildare, and were borne by his guards more for show than for use. In 1487 an O’Donnell was killed by a cannon or musket shot in a local broil, and in the following year Kildare brought ordnance against Balrath Castle. In 1495, as we have seen, heavy guns were successfully used for the defence of Waterford, and the mention of firearms in the Act of 1498 shows that their importance was quickly recognised. Cannon came in time to be the peculiar weapons of the King, their great expense putting them out of the reach of private combatants, and no doubt it was gunpowder that caused the downfall both of the feudal and of the tribal systems.[71 - Four Masters and O’Donovan’s notes, under 1487, 1488, and 1498.]

Kildare’s wars in Connaught and Ulster