Ireland under the Tudors Part 20

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 pet.i.tion 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]

FOOTNOTES:

[171] Lady Skeffington to Anne Boleyn, Jan. 26, 1536; to Cromwell, Aug.

1. Anthony Colley to Cromwell, in _Carew_, Feb. 13, 1536; Lord Deputy and Council to Cromwell, Nov. 23.

[172] 28 and 29 Henry VIII. The contemporary Schedule of Acts is in the S.P. ii. 526. Brabazon to Cromwell, May 17, 1536; Cromwell to the Lord Deputy and Council, June 3.

[173] _Irish Statutes_, 28 and 29 Henry VIII. Brabazon to Cromwell, May 17; Grey to Cromwell, May 21.

[174] 25 Henry VI., c. 5 and c. 9, and see Hardiman's _Statute of Kilkenny_, p. 129; 17 Henry VI., see _Carew_, vol. iv. p. 457; 12 and 13 Henry VII. For the earlier legislation, see Gilbert's _Viceroys_, pp.

216, 244. The Act of Absentees is 28 Henry VIII., cap. 3. For the preparation of Bills in England, see Audeley to Cromwell, S.P. vol. ii.

p. 439.

[175] Grey to Cromwell, June 24, 1536, for the treaty with Con O'Neill.

The other treaties are in _Carew_, May 4, May 12, and May 31.

[176] Lord Deputy and Council to Cromwell, June 1, 1536; Council of Ireland to Cromwell, June 30; William Wise to Cromwell, July 12.

[177] The Council of Ireland to Cromwell, Aug. 9; Grey to Cromwell, Aug.

10.

[178] The Council of Ireland to Cromwell, Aug. 9; William Body to Cromwell, Aug. 9, in _Carew_; Grey to Cromwell, Aug. 10.

[179] Same authorities; also Lord Butler to Cromwell, Aug. 11.

[180] Body to Cromwell, Aug. 1536, in _Carew_; Grey to Cromwell, Nov. 24; Lord Butler to Cromwell, Aug. 11.

[181] Grey to Cromwell, Aug. 10; Body's letter, as above; Lord Deputy and Council to Cromwell, Nov. 23; Grey to Cromwell, same date.

[182] Council of Ireland to Cromwell, Aug. 22, 1536, and the notes; Grey to the King, Aug. 19.

[183] Council of Ireland to Cromwell, Aug. 22. This session of Parliament began Sept. 15, 1536.

[184] See the _State Papers_, vol. ii. pp. 366, 367. The Duke of Richmond died Aug. 22, 1536.

[185] The King to the Lord Deputy and Council, Feb. 25, 1537.

[186] Lord Deputy and Council to Cromwell, April 20, 1537; to the King, same date.

[187] Grey and Brabazon to Cromwell, June 11, 1537; Council to Cromwell, June 26; Thomas Alen to Cromwell, June 12, in _Carew_.

[188] The King to St. Leger and others, with the Commission of July 31, 1537; to the Lord Deputy and Council, same date; to Grey, same date.

[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.

[190] _Four Masters_ and _Annals of Lough Ce_, 1512 and 1537. Ma.n.u.s O'Donnell to Grey, Aug. 20, 1537. Ware says that Donegal Friary contained a famous library.

[191] Grey to Cromwell, Sept. 1, 1537; J. Alen to St. Leger and others, No. 183 in the printed S.P.

[192] Brabazon to Cromwell, Dec. 31, 1537. St. Leger to Cromwell, Jan. 2, 1538.

[193] From the light it throws on the land question O'Connor's prayer is worth transcribing:--

'Humiliter pet.i.t, quatenus Dominus Rex, ex sua gratia, 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 part.i.tionem, more patriae, 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 terrae, tres solidos et quatuor denarios; et quod carucatae terrae in Offaly, quotiens Domino Deputato visum fuerit, ac necessitas emergerit, onerantur et a.s.sidentur belligeris pro defensione subditorum Domini Regis, eodem modo sicut caeterae carucatae terrae inter regios subditos onerantur et a.s.sidentur. Igitur humiliter pet.i.t, 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.

[194] Brabazon to Cromwell, Sept. 10, 1535; Council of Ireland to Cromwell, Feb. 14, 1536; Stanihurst; Ware; _Four Masters_, 1535.

[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_.

[196] Lady Kildare to Cromwell, July 16, 1536. Articles by St. Leger and others, Dec. 10, 1537.

[197] St. Leger and others to Cromwell, Jan. 2, 1538; Ormonde to the Irish Council, S.P., vol. iii. p. 44; Stanihurst.

[198] Brabazon to Cromwell, May 26, 1539; Stanihurst.

[199] Sir John Wallop to Ess.e.x, 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.

[200] Lady Eleanor O'Donnell to the King, May 4, 1545.

CHAPTER XII.

END OF GREY'S ADMINISTRATION.

[Sidenote: 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...b..rne 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 gallowgla.s.ses, 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 a.s.sents, for the l.u.s.t they have to caines and other abuses, turning to their profit, as it doth to mine.'[201]

[Sidenote: Grey goes to Ulster, 1538.]

Taking advantage of O'Connor's quiescent state, Grey cut pa.s.ses 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 10_l._ 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]

[Sidenote: 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, a.s.sumed 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]

[Sidenote: 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]

[Sidenote: Ormonde and the O'Carrolls.]