THE REBELLION OF 1641
[Sidenote: Parsons and Borlase Lords Justices, Feb. 10, 1640-1.]
[Sidenote: The Irish Parliament turn against Strafford.]
[Sidenote: Radcliffe and the Irish Committee.]
As soon as Wandesford's death was known Robert Lord Dillon and Sir
William Parsons were appointed Lords Justices. As Master of the Wards
Parsons had been useful in increasing the revenue, and he was an able
official, though he has a bad name on account of his dealings with
land. Dillon, whose son had married Strafford's sister, had been Lord
Justice before, and was obnoxious to the Irish Committee in London; he
was therefore quickly superseded in favour of Sir John Borlase, who was
a soldier without political experience, and not young enough to learn.
Wandesford's daughter, who was nearly fifteen when he died, says that
these two old gentlemen 'having lived in Ireland many peaceable years
could not be made sensible that the Irish had an ill-design against the
English,' and perhaps that is not far from the truth. They were fully
occupied at first with the difficulties made by the Irish Parliament.
Strafford was in the Tower, and the two Houses who had been his very
humble servants now joined in protesting that the complimentary
preamble to the Act of Subsidy was 'contrived, penned, and inserted
fraudulently without the privity of the House either by the said Earl
of Strafford himself or by some other person' by his orders. Ormonde
spoke against this, but in vain. The London Committee worked in the
same direction, though Radcliffe, prisoner as he was and without
papers, made a good case against them. They told the King that they had
heard 'with terror and amazement' of Wandesford's tearing the leaves
out of the journals, and maintained that the subsidies, if raised
according to his plan, would be more than the country could bear,
while the ports were closed so as to prevent access to his gracious
Majesty. Radcliffe showed that the trade of Ireland had doubled during
Strafford's reign, and maintained that substantial justice had been
done. The late Remonstrance of the Irish House of Commons had been
rushed through and did not represent the facts. To this the Irish
Committee replied that Radcliffe was a member, and had not risen in his
place to object, that many illegal acts had been done, and that the
mild government which preceded Strafford's had allowed Ireland to grow
rich, while he had only reaped the harvest.[268]
[Sidenote: Roman Catholic majority.]
[Sidenote: The queries.]
Owing probably to the confusion among the official class and to the
absence of some officers with the new army in Ulster, the Roman
Catholics had a majority in Parliament during the early months of 1641.
There were able lawyers among them who drew up a paper of queries or
interrogatories which they sent up to the Lords for the opinion of
the judges. The first shows the line taken: 'Whether the subjects of
this kingdom be a free people, and to be governed only by the common
laws of England, and statutes of force in this kingdom?' This the
judges answered generally in the affirmative, pointing out that both
in England and Ireland there was necessarily a certain amount of
judge-made law to meet cases not covered by statute. The general drift
of the queries was to dispute the jurisdiction of the Council and the
Star Chamber. By what law, runs the sixteenth query, 'are jurors, that
give verdict according to their conscience and are the sole judges of
the fact, censured in the Castle-chamber in great fines, and sometimes
pilloried, with loss of ears, and bored through the tongue, and marked
sometimes in the forehead with an hot iron; and other like infamous
punishments?' The judges did not deny the facts, but maintained that
perjured jurors were properly censurable in the Castle-chamber, and
they made a not very successful attempt to derive this jurisdiction
from writs of attaint at common law. The House of Commons were not
satisfied with the judges' answers, and made a declaration disposing
of each query in their own sense.[269]
[Sidenote: Prorogation, March, 1640-1.]
[Sidenote: Impeachments.]
Parliament was prorogued from March 5 to May 11, having previously
appointed a committee to draw up articles of impeachment against
Lord Chancellor Bolton, Bishop Bramhall, Chief Justice Lowther, and
Sir George Radcliffe. Owing to the progress of events all these
impeachments were dropped, and the question as to the Irish House of
Lords' judicial powers was not decided. Before the Houses reassembled
the King had written to confirm all the graces and to suggest a Bill
for confirming sixty-year titles in Connaught, Clare, Limerick, and
Tipperary. But no legislation issued from the confused wrangling of
those days, during which Ormonde showed great capacity for obstructive
tactics. When Captain Audley Mervyn and others appeared as managers for
the Commons Bolton received them with great courtesy, then returned to
the Woolsack and declared himself impeached, protesting that he should
never dream of disputing their Lordships' jurisdiction. Thereupon
Ormonde raised a point of order. The Chancellor, he said, was accused
and therefore debarred from acting as speaker, and as there was no
power to appoint another nothing could be done. Bolton at last entered
into recognisances and the prorogation took place next day.[270]
[Sidenote: New session, May 11, 1641.]
When a fresh session began the Commons were more unmanageable than
ever. They asked the Lords Justices to let them search the Castle,
lest Strafford's servants should blow them all up in revenge for their
master's death. Borlase as Master of the Ordnance positively refused to
show 'the King's most precious jewels,' but assured them on his honour
that there was no powder under either House of Parliament, which was
no doubt the fact. The Lords Justices found that Strafford had died in
debt to the Crown, and proposed repayment out of the tobacco, while
the Commons urged that no tobacco seized after his attainder should
be confiscated. The weary chief governors were glad enough to have a
recess from July 14 to November 9. Before the latter date the rebellion
had broken out, but the Lords Justices were saved the trouble which
would have followed the return of the Irish Committee at the end of
August.[271]
[Sidenote: A rising in Ulster foretold.]
[Sidenote: The Irish in Flanders.]
[Sidenote: Vane's letter, March, 1640-1.]
[Sidenote: Sir W. Cole's letter, Oct. 11, 1641.]
[Sidenote: Meeting at Multifarnham.]
As early as 1611 Sir George Carew had foretold that the dispossessed
natives of Ulster would some day rebel, that there would be a war of
religion, and that the Protestant settlers would be surprised. The
Irish exiles in the Spanish service had ever since been a source of
apprehension, and abortive plots were laid from time to time both in
Spain and in the Netherlands. Communications by way of England were
always possible, and Clarendon thought much mischief was done by the
Committee from the Irish Parliament, 'consisting most of Papists, and
since the most active in the rebellion.' In July 1640 a cipher code was
established between Sir Phelim O'Neill in Ulster and Owen Roe O'Neill
in Flanders, who received a visit from Hugh MacPhelim, afterwards one
of the leaders in Ireland. O'Byrne observed that they were risking
their lives daily to 'succour a scabbed town' for the Spanish king,
and that they would be no worse off fighting for their own country. It
was believed that Ulster and Munster would join together. Nor was the
English Government without suspicion, for Vane, by the King's orders,
warned the Lords Justices a little later that an unspeakable number of
'Irish Churchmen had passed from Spain to England and Ireland, and some
good old soldiers,' on pretence of recruiting, but that rumours of a
rebellion, especially in Connaught, circulated freely among the friars.
It was not, however, until about a fortnight before the insurrection
that anything particular was noticed in Ireland itself. It was reported
to Sir William Cole at Enniskillen that there was an extraordinary
resort of the Irish gentry to Sir Phelim O'Neill's house, Lord Maguire
being specially active in journeying to and fro. A few days later he
was informed by Hugh Maguire that many of his clansmen and neighbours
were recruiting actively for the King of Spain's service in Portugal.
In itself this did not mean much, but great secrecy was observed,
and Sir William reported what he had heard to the Lords Justices,
who advised him to be vigilant. In the meantime there had been a
great gathering of Roman Catholic clergy and laity at Multifarnham
in Westmeath, but this was not known until later, though the Irish
Council were aware that there was 'great underhand labouring among the
priests, friars, and Jesuits' to prevent Strafford's disbanded soldiers
from leaving the country. At the Multifarnham meeting it was debated
what should be done to the Protestants, and there was much difference
of opinion. The only extant account rests upon the statement of a
Franciscan guardian, who was present, as reported on oath by Dr. Henry
Jones. Some of those assembled, the Franciscan spokesman among them,
were for turning all the Protestants out of Ireland with some portion
of their goods. This had been the policy of the Spanish kings towards
the Moors. Others were for killing them all, and these maintained
that the mercy, such as it was, of the two Philips was misplaced,
and had caused all the misery which Christendom suffered from the
rovers of Sallee and Algiers. A third party were for killing some and
expelling the rest. The heretics once got rid of, no religion but
that of Rome was to be allowed in Ireland, the King was to be reduced
to his hereditary revenue, and the clergy to have representatives in
Parliament. Poynings' Law was to be repealed, and the kingdom entirely
separated from England, civil authority resting in the hands of the
ancient chiefs and nobility, each being absolute in his county or
barony, but responsible to a native Parliament. The Earl of Kildare,
who was an ardent Protestant, was to be removed, and all plantation
lands restored to the previous owners. An army was devised consisting
of contingents out of each chiefry, and a navy manned by an order like
the Knights of Malta.[272]
[Sidenote: The plot, Rory O'More.]
[Sidenote: Lord Maguire]
[Sidenote: Hugh MacMahon.]
[Sidenote: Military conspirators.]
[Sidenote: The plot discovered.]
On October 21 Cole received more precise information about a plot to
seize Dublin and other strong places, and he sent at once to the Lords
Justices with the news; but the letter never reached them, having
doubtless been intercepted by some of the conspirators. Early in 1641
it had occurred to Roger or Rory O'More that the King's difficulties in
Scotland might give an opportunity to Catholic Ireland. O'More belonged
to the remnant of the sept which had once ruled in Queen's County,
but was settled at Ballina near the northern extremity of Kildare. He
was an accomplished man and a persuasive speaker both in English and
Irish, and had a great reputation in the country. By his marriage with
a daughter of the noted Sir Patrick Barnewall he had many connections
in the Pale. Colonel Richard Plunket was married to his wife's first
cousin. The meeting of Parliament gave O'More an opportunity of
speaking to Lord Maguire, an extravagant young man of twenty-five,
who, having married a Fleming, had influence in the Pale as well as in
Ulster, and whose embarrassments disposed him to desperate courses. 'He
began,' said Maguire afterwards, 'to lay down the case that I was in,
overwhelmed in debt, the smallness of my estate, and the greatness of
the estate my ancestors had, and how I should be sure to get it again
or at least a good part thereof; and, moreover, how the welfare and
maintaining of the Catholic religion, which, he said, the Parliament
now in England will suppress, doth depend on it.' These were the
arguments used everywhere, and the miserable condition of the Irish
gentry in Ulster made them ready listeners. Hugh MacMahon, one of the
chief conspirators, complained bitterly of the 'proud and haughty
carriage of one Mr. Aldrige, that was his neighbour in the county of
Monaghan, who was a justice of the peace and but a vintner or tapster
few years before, that he gave him not the right hand of fellowship at
the assizes nor sessions, he being also in commission with him.' O'More
brought the Ulstermen together in Dublin, and visited the northern
province himself. Lord Mayo was also expected to join, and help was
confidently expected both from France and Spain. John O'Neill, calling
himself Earl of Tyrone, a colonel in the Spanish service, was killed in
Catalonia about this time, after which Owen Roe was looked to as the
real chief, and Sir Phelim as the principal man of his clan until the
other arrived. It was not till August that the plot to seize Dublin
Castle took definite shape, the idea originating with the soldiers of
fortune who were disappointed in their design for carrying Strafford's
army abroad. Parsons saw the danger of keeping these men in Ireland,
but the Irish Parliament was largely under clerical influence, and that
was exerted to prevent them going. Colonels Sir James Dillon, Hugh
MacPhelim O'Byrne, and Richard Plunket were most active, and October 5
was fixed for the attempt. Delays occurred causing a postponement to
the 23rd, and in the meantime a messenger came from Owen Roe, who said
he had positive promises from Richelieu, that he was ready to join the
insurgents as soon as possible. On October 15 Sir Phelim O'Neill, Lord
Maguire, O'More, Ever Macmahon and Captain Brian O'Neill, Owen Roe's
envoy, met to make final arrangements. One hundred picked men from
Leinster, under the guidance of O'More, were to take the little gate
of the Castle, the main entrance being left to Maguire and one hundred
Ulstermen. Sir Phelim was to go home and take Londonderry at the same
moment, which he signally failed to do. The afternoon of Saturday the
23rd was the chosen time, for it was market day, and the presence
of strangers would be less noticed. On the previous evening Maguire,
O'Byrne, Plunket, Fox and others met, but it was found that only eighty
men had been provided instead of two hundred, Sir Phelim and others
failing to send their contingents. They resolved to go on with what
force they had, and to meet again next morning; but late in the evening
O'More and Fox came to Lord Maguire's lodgings and told him that all
was discovered.'[273]
[Sidenote: Owen O'Connolly.]
[Sidenote: O'Connolly discloses the plot.]
Hugh Oge Macmahon, a grandson of the great Tyrone, who had been a
colonel in the Spanish service, lived on his property near Clones
in Monaghan. He had a relation named Owen O'Connolly, belonging to
the same county but employed by Sir John Clotworthy, married to an
Englishwoman, and apparently a sincere Protestant. Some six months
before the outbreak, when Macmahon complained to him of his neighbour
Aldrige's behaviour, O'Connolly replied that a conquered people must
submit; to which the other retorted that he hoped they would soon
be delivered from the slavery and bondage under which they groaned.
O'Connolly warned him against engaging in plots, and advised him to
report what he knew to the Lords Justices, 'which would redound to his
great honour.' He refused to have anything to do with the business, and
told several magistrates what he had heard, but they neglected it as
baseless gossip. Finding that he had gone too far, Macmahon promised to
move no more in the matter, and the kinsmen did not meet again until
October 22, on which day O'Connolly, who had been summoned by letter,
rode sixty miles and reached Dublin at seven in the evening. Macmahon
took him to Lord Maguire, who disclosed the whole plot. Strafford had
stored arms for 30,000 men in the Castle, with which the conspirators
expected to free the country easily. 'And whereas,' said Maguire, 'you
have of long time been a slave to that Puritan Sir John Clotworthy, I
hope you shall have as good a man to wait upon you.' They then went
with several others to the sign of the Lion in Wine Tavern Street,
where they turned the waiter out of the room and fell to drinking
health on their knees to the success of next day's work. In order to
make the others drink, O'Connolly had to swallow a good deal, and at
last, to use his own words, 'finding an opportunity, this examinate
leaped over a wall and two pales and so came to the Lord Justice
Parsons,' who lived near.[274]
[Sidenote: Action of the Irish Government.]
[Sidenote: Proclamation of Oct. 23, 1641.]
[Sidenote: News comes from Ulster.]
[Sidenote: Weakness of the Government.]
O'Connolly came to Parsons at his house on Merchants' Quay about
nine o'clock in the evening of Friday, October 22. He had not quite
recovered from the effects of his carouse, and the Lord Justice, who
only half believed his somewhat incoherent story, sent him back to get
more information from MacMahon, who lodged on the left bank of the
river. Parsons himself went to Borlase, who lived at Chichester House,
where the Bank of Ireland now stands, and summoned hastily such of
the Council as he thought within reach. The constable of the Castle
had already been warned, and the mayor had directions to apprehend
all strangers. O'Connolly, having with great difficulty escaped the
second time, fell into the hands of the watch, but was rescued by
Parsons' men. It was now very late, and only two Privy Councillors
could be found, but O'Connolly's information was sworn in proper form.
Borlase did not sign the deposition, though the sitting was in his
own house; and his son seems to suggest in his history that this was
owing to a difference with his colleague; but perhaps he could not keep
awake, for Strafford had long since pronounced him quite worn out.
The Council sat all night and all next day, Sir Francis Willoughby,
Sir John Temple, and the Vice-Treasurer Loftus being present. Before
separating, both Lords Justices and eight Privy Councillors signed
the first proclamation against 'the most disloyal and detestable
conspiracy intended by some evil-affected Irish papists.' The document
was quickly circulated through the country, but St. Leger, and no
doubt many others, thought the words last quoted unwise. Good subjects
were warned to stand on their guard and to keep the Government well
informed, 'and we require that great care be taken that no levies of
men be made for foreign service, nor any men suffered to march upon
any such pretence.' Willoughby was made governor of the Castle, with
a hundred men, well-armed, over and above the ordinary guard; and he
largely increased his force by re-engaging some of his old Carlisle
regiment who had come to Dublin after being disbanded. At midnight on
Saturday, the 23rd, Lord Blaney brought the first certain news from
Ulster. His family were prisoners, while Castleblaney, Carrickmacross,
and many other houses in Monaghan had been sacked or burned. The rebels
attacked Protestants only, 'leaving the English Papists untouched, as
well as the Irish.' Three hours later came the news that Newry with its
store of arms and powder was in the hands of the Irish. Dublin itself
was a prey to panic, and for a moment even Willoughby thought that
there would be an attack on the Castle. He so improved the defences as
to make a surprise impossible. Next morning, being Sunday, the Council
met again, and the proclamation, which had by this time been printed,
was dispersed over the country. An express was sent to bring up Ormonde
from Carrick-on-Suir, with copies of the proclamation to leave at
every market town on the road. In all Ireland meanwhile there were but
2297 foot soldiers and 943 horse, and these were for the most part in
distant garrisons. As to money, Loftus briefly reported that there was
nothing in the Exchequer. The Castle contained great stores of arms and
ammunition, the remains of Strafford's preparations, but trustworthy
men were at first much wanted.[275]
[Sidenote: Willoughby's narrative.]
Willoughby's own graphic account shows how narrow the escape had been.
He found no soldiers in the city, the Castle having for defence only
eight old warders and forty halberdiers (to escort the Lords Justices
to church), though it contained thirty-five guns with their fittings,
1500 barrels of powder with match and bullets, and arms for 10,000
men. On the morning of October 23 Willoughby saw the Lords Justices at
Chichester House; they had been up all night, and gave him O'Connolly's
statement to read. They removed to the Castle by his advice, and he
had himself to sleep on the Council table. His first care was to break
down the staircase into Ship Street, lest there should be an attack
there. He then strengthened the gates and trailed cannon into position
commanding them. For fourteen days he dared not let down the drawbridge
unless all the halberdiers were present, by which time he had enlisted
200 of his old Carlisle regiment, who had returned to Ireland after
being disbanded. Plundered Protestants arrived daily with accounts of
murders and burnings.[276]
[Sidenote: Maguire and Macmahon taken.]
[Sidenote: O'More and others escape.]
[Sidenote: The Lords of the Pale.]
[Sidenote: They are supplied with arms.]
[Sidenote: Arms sent to the Ulster Scots.]
Of the conspirators, only two of any importance were taken--Macmahon
at his lodgings, and Lord Maguire in a cockloft where he had hidden
himself. Maguire denied everything, but he was confuted by Macmahon's
confession, and arms were discovered in his rooms. Macmahon, whose
information was mainly from Ulster, declared the conspiracy to be
universal, and believed, or professed to believe, that every garrison
in Ireland would be surprised on the same day. 'I am now in your
hands,' he said; 'use me as you will; I am sure I shall be shortly
revenged.' They were both hanged in London, Maguire being a commoner
in England. The point had been settled long ago in Lord Leonard Grey's
case, who was Viscount Grane in Ireland. Sir William Coles' letter
was now remembered, and there were other causes for alarm. The ease
with which O'More, Plunket, Fox, and O'Byrne escaped showed that they
had many confederates. Horsemen flocked into the suburbs, and Colonel
Barry's four hundred men in a ship on the river gave great uneasiness.
Barry had rather suspiciously disappeared on the night of the 22nd, and
the soldiers, who were not allowed to communicate with the shore, were
nearly starved, and when landed were not permitted to enter the town.
It was thought prudent to adjourn the Council from Chichester House to
the Castle, and when the number of suitors increased, to Cork House,
over the way. The Lords Justices could only hope that the Pale was not
so seriously tainted, and on Sunday and Monday they were visited by the
Earls of Kildare and Fingall, and by Lords Gormanston, Netterville,
Fitzwilliam, Howth, Dunsany, and Slane, all of whom professed loyalty
and declared that they now heard of the conspiracy for the first time.
Whether this was true in all cases may be doubted, but they agreed in
asking for arms. The Lords Justices hesitated about parting with their
weapons, but thought it better to give a certain number, 'lest they
should conceive we apprehended any jealousy of them.' Many of these
arms were used against the Government, and St. Leger thought they
ought not to have been given; while the Lords Justices were blamed by
others for not dealing them out more liberally. Enough were given for
seventeen hundred men in the counties of Dublin, Kildare, Louth, Meath,
and Westmeath, and, considering that they were entrusted to private
persons of doubtful loyalty, this seems to have been a fair allowance.
Arms for four hundred men were also sent to the Scots of Down and
Antrim, and these at least were not wasted. There was a great fleet of
Scotch fishing boats in the bay, and five hundred men volunteered to
land and be armed for the service of the State. The offer was accepted,
but never acted on, for the fishermen were seized with a panic, put
to sea, and never reappeared until the next year. The fugitives from
Ulster soon began to pour into Dublin. Temple is open to criticism for
his account of what happened in the northern province, but this is what
he saw himself:
[Sidenote: What Temple saw in Dublin.]
'Many persons of good rank and quality, covered over with old rags, and
some without any other covering than a little to hide their nakedness,
some reverend ministers and others that had escaped with their lives
sorely wounded. Wives came bitterly lamenting the murders of their
husbands; mothers of their children, barbarously destroyed before their
faces; poor infants ready to perish and pour out their souls in their
mothers' bosoms; some over-wearied with long travel, and so surbated,
as they came creeping on their knees; others frozen up with cold, ready
to give up the ghost in the streets; others overwhelmed with grief,
distracted with their losses, lost also their senses.... But those of
better quality, who could not frame themselves to be common beggars,
crept into private places; and some of them, that had not private
friends to relieve them, even wasted silently away, and so died without
noise.... The greatest part of the women and children thus barbarously
expelled out of their habitations perished in the city of Dublin; and
so great numbers of them were brought to their graves, as all the
churchyards within the whole town were of too narrow a compass to
contain them.' Two large additional burial grounds were set apart.[277]
[Sidenote: An amended proclamation, Oct. 29.]
[Sidenote: The Very Rev. Henry Jones.]
[Sidenote: The Protestants at Belturbet.]
[Sidenote: The Lords Justices mark time.]
On October 29 the Lords Justices issued a second proclamation. The
words 'Irish Papists' in the first had been misunderstood, and they
now desired to confine it to the 'old mere Irish in the province of
Ulster'; and they straitly charged both Papists and Protestants on
their allegiance to 'forbear upbraiding matters of religion one against
the other.' They soon had authentic evidence of how the old mere Irish
were behaving in one Ulster county. Dean Jones came to Dublin at the
beginning of November with the Remonstrance of the O'Reillys, which
Bedell had excused himself from carrying. 'I must confess,' says
Jones, 'the task was such as was in every respect improper for me to
undergo ... but chiefly considering that thereby I might gain the
opportunity of laying open to the Lords what I had observed ... which
by letters could not so safely be delivered, I did therefore accept.'
The O'Reillys declared that the outbreak was caused by oppression and
by the fear of worse oppression; that there was no intention to rebel
against the King; and that the people had attacked the English settlers
without their orders and against their will. To prevent greater
disorders they had seized strong places for the King's use, and they
demanded liberty of conscience and security for their property. Jones
saw clearly that the rising was general and that the native gentry had
no wish to restrain it, and he could tell what had happened to the
English inhabitants of Belturbet. Philip Mac Hugh O'Reilly and the
rest had promised these people a safe passage, and had allowed them to
carry away some of their property, which they were thus induced not to
hide. In the town of Cavan they were attacked, the guard given by the
O'Reillys joining in the treachery, and robbed of everything. 'Some
were killed, all stripped, some almost, others altogether naked, not
respecting women and sucking infants, the Lady Butler faring herein
as did others. Of these miserable creatures many perished by famine
and cold, travelling naked through frost and snow, the rest recovering
Dublin, where now many of them are among others, in the same distress
for bread and clothes.' After a week's hesitation, the Lords Justices
sent back an answer by Jones, whose wife and children remained as
hostages. This he describes as 'fair, but general and dilatory,
suitable to the weak condition of affairs in Dublin, the safety whereof
wholly depending upon the gain of time.' The Government yielded no
point of importance. They reminded the remonstrants that fortresses
could not be legally seized without orders from the King, and that
the rebels had falsely professed to have such orders. If, however,
the inhabitants of the county Cavan would peaceably return to their
own dwellings, restore every possible article to its plundered owner,
and abstain from all hostile acts in future, then the Lords Justices
would forward their petition to his Majesty and 'humbly seek his royal
pleasure therein.' The O'Reillys were in the meantime preparing to
attack Dublin in force.[278]
[Sidenote: State of the Pale.]
As regards the gentry of the Pale, Roman Catholics for the most part,
the Lords Justices were in a difficult position. By mistrusting them
they ran the risk of driving them into rebellion; by trusting them
they increased their power for mischief, should they be already
tainted. For the moment the first danger seemed the greater of the
two, and commissions as governors of counties with plenary powers were
accordingly issued to several of them, by which they were authorised
to proceed by martial law against the rebels, 'hanging them till they
be dead as hath been accustomed in time of open rebellion,' destroying
or sparing their houses and territories according to their discretion.
They were also empowered to grant protections.
[Sidenote: Lord Gormanston.]
[Sidenote: Sir N. Barnewall.]
[Sidenote: Sir T. Nugent.]
[Sidenote: Sir C. Bellew.]
[Sidenote: The Earl of Kildare.]
Viscount Gormanston was thus made governor of Meath, and arms were
given him for 500 men. He was in open rebellion a few weeks later. Sir
Nicholas Barnewall of Turvey, afterwards created Viscount Kingsland by
Charles I., became governor of the county of Dublin, and had arms for
300 men. Barnewall was a good deal involved in political intrigues,
but soon fled to England to avoid taking arms against the Government.
A commission as governor of Westmeath and arms for 300 men were given
to Sir Thomas Nugent, who afterwards tried to fill the difficult part
of neutral. Sir Christopher Bellew was governor of Louth, with arms
for 300, but he very soon joined the Irish. To George Earl of Kildare,
Cork's son-in-law, his own county was entrusted and arms for 300; but
he was a Protestant and suffered severely for his loyalty, while he
was quite unable to curb his neighbours. Finding after a time that the
arms given out would, if used at all, be used against them, the Lords
Justices endeavoured to get them back, but they recovered only 950 out
of 1700, and the enemy had the rest.[279]
[Sidenote: Ormonde made general.]
[Sidenote: Sir H. Tichborne.]
Ormonde was at his own house at Carrick-on-Suir when the rebellion
broke out. The Lords Justices sent for him at once, and the first
letter being delayed in transmission, a second was sent with a
commission to him and Mountgarret to govern the county of Kilkenny
and to take such other precautions as were possible. The gentry met
at Kilkenny and offered to raise 240 foot and 50 horse, while Callan
and other towns made similar promises. There were, however, no arms,
and the Lords Justices would give none out of the stores. Before
purchases could be made in England the situation was greatly changed.
Ormonde arrived at Dublin with his troop early at the end of the first
week in November, and on the 10th Sir Patrick Wemyss returned from
Edinburgh with his nomination as Lieutenant-General, to command the
army as he had done in Strafford's time. The Lords Justices made out
his commission next day, with warrant to execute martial law, but
without prejudice to Leicester's authority as Lord Lieutenant. It was
not till six months later that the King gave him power to appoint
subordinate officers according to the 'constant practice and custom
of former times,' it having by then become evident that Leicester
would not reside in Ireland. The defence of Drogheda had already been
provided for by Sir Henry Tichborne, who was living at Dunshaughly,
near Finglas, and who had brought his family into Dublin on the first
day, having already 'scattered a parcel of rogues' that threatened his
country house. Having received a commission from the Lords Justices,
he raised and armed 1000 men in nine days among the Protestants who
had left their homes, and with this regiment he entered Drogheda on
November 4. Three additional companies were sent to him a few days
later.[280]
[Sidenote: Ormonde disagrees with the Lords Justices.]
One of Ormonde's first acts as general was to commission Lord Lambert,
Sir Charles Coote, and Sir Piers Crosbie to raise regiments of 1000
men each, and thirteen others to raise independent companies of 100
each. The ranks were filled in a few days, for all business was at a
standstill, and Protestant fugitives poured in in great numbers. There
were 1500 disciplined men of the old army about Dublin. Strafford
had left a fine train of field artillery with arms, tents, and all
necessaries for 10,000 men. Under these circumstances Ormonde was for
pushing on, and putting down the northern rebellion at once. To this
the Lords Justices would not consent, and it may be that they were
jealous of their general; but it must be confessed that there was also
something to be said for a cautious policy. With the Pale evidently
disaffected Dublin could not be considered as very safe.[281]
[Sidenote: The Irish Parliament after the outbreak.]
[Sidenote: Both Houses protest against the rising.]
[Sidenote: Vain hopes of peace.]
[Sidenote: Prorogation, Nov. 17, 1641.]
When the rebellion broke out the Lords Justices by their own authority
prorogued Parliament till February 24, fearing a concourse of people
to Dublin, and also because the state of Ulster made it almost certain
that there would not be a Protestant majority. The gentry of the Pale,
and the Roman Catholic party generally, protested strongly, and there
were doubts about the legality of the prorogation. Some lawyers held
that Parliament would be dissolved by the mere fact of not meeting
on the appointed day. To get over the difficulty the Lords Justices
agreed that Parliament should meet as originally announced, but that
it should sit only for one day, and should then be prorogued to a date
earlier than February 24. Ormonde and some others were in favour of a
regular session, but they were overruled by the official members of
the Council. Parliament met accordingly on November 9, and immediately
adjourned till the 16th, so as to give time for private negotiations.
The attendance was thin in both Houses, partly on account of the state
of the country and partly because many thought that the prorogation
till February was still in force. Mr. Cadowgan significantly remarked
that 'many members of the House are traitors, and whether they come
or not it is not material.' There was a great military display about
the Castle gates, according to the precedent created by Strafford, and
offence was taken at this; but the two Houses agreed to a protestation
against those who, 'contrary to their duty and loyalty to his Majesty,
and against the laws of God, and the fundamental laws of the realm,
have traitorously and rebelliously raised arms, have seized on some of
his Majesty's forts and castles, and dispossessed many of his Majesty's
faithful subjects of their houses, lands, and goods, and have slain
many of them, and committed other cruel and inhumane outrages and acts
of hostility within the realm.' And the Lords and Commons pledged
themselves to 'take up arms and with their lives and fortunes suppress
them and their attempts.' There was some grumbling about the words
'traitorously and rebelliously' on the principle that birds are not
to be caught by throwing stones at them, but the majority thought the
Ulster rebels past praying for, and the protest was agreed to without
a division. There was also unanimity in appointing a joint committee,
fairly representing different sections, with power, subject to royal
or viceregal consent, to confer with the Ulster people. Two days were
occupied in these discussions, and on the evening of the 17th the Lords
Justices prorogued Parliament till January 11. When that day came
things had gone far beyond the parliamentary stage.[282]
[Sidenote: Leicester Lord Lieutenant.]
[Sidenote: He never came to Ireland.]
[Sidenote: The rebellion reported to the English Parliament.]
[Sidenote: The news reaches the King, Oct. 27.]
The Earl of Leicester was appointed Lord Lieutenant early in June 1641,
and the Lords Justices were directed by the King to furnish him with
copies of all their instructions. He remained in England, and to him
the Irish Government addressed their account of the outbreak. This
was brought over by Owen O'Connolly, received on or before October
31, and at once communicated to the Privy Council, who had a Sunday
sitting. On Monday, November 1, the Upper House did not sit in the
morning, 'for,' says Clarendon, 'it was All Saints' Day, which the
Lords yet kept holy, though the Commons had reformed it.' To the House
of Commons accordingly the Privy Council proceeded in a body, headed
by the Lord Keeper. There was no precedent for such a visitation, but
after a short discussion chairs were placed in the body of the House
and Leicester, with his hat off, read the Lords Justices' letter of
October 25. Clarendon testifies from personal knowledge that the
rebellion was odious to the King, and confidently asserts that none of
the parliamentary leaders 'originally and intentionally contributed
thereunto,' though he believes that their conduct afterwards added
fuel to the flame. When the Privy Councillors had withdrawn the House
went into committee, Mr. Whitelock in the chair, and drew up heads
for a conference with the Peers. As to money they resolved to borrow
50,000_l._, giving full security, and to pay O'Connolly 500_l._ down
with a pension of 200_l._ until an estate of greater value could be
provided. Resolutions were passed against Papists, and particularly
for the banishment of the Queen's Capuchins. The Lords met in the
afternoon, and after this the two Houses acted together. Three days
later the estimate for Ireland was raised to 200,000_l._, and Leicester
was authorised to raise 3,500 foot and 600 horse, while arms were
provided for a further levy. News of the outbreak came to the King at
Edinburgh direct from Ulster four days before it reached the English
Parliament. Tradition says that he was playing golf, and that he
finished his game.[283]
[Sidenote: Letter from the O'Farrells.]
[Sidenote: Catholic grievances represented to the King.]
Lord Dillon of Costello, who was a professing Protestant, produced at
the Council on November 10 a letter signed by twenty-six O'Farrells
in county Longford. This paper is well written, and contains the usual
pleas for religious equality, which modern readers will readily admit,
though they were not according to the ideas of that day either at home
or abroad. The O'Farrells had taken an oath of allegiance, but their
sincerity is open to doubt, for they demanded 'an act of oblivion and
general pardon without restitution on account of goods taken in the
times of this commotion.' No government could possibly grant any such
amnesty, and the suggestion came at a time when Ulster was in a blaze
and when Dublin was crowded with Protestants who had escaped with their
bare lives. Dillon and Taaffe were commissioned by the Roman Catholic
lords to carry their grievances to the King. When returning with
instructions they were stopped at Ware and their papers overhauled, the
Lords Justices having warned their parliamentary friends.[284]
[Sidenote: Weakness of the Irish Government.]
[Sidenote: Relief comes but slowly.]
[Sidenote: Monck, Grenville and Harcourt.]
The influence of Carte has led historians generally to think that the
Lords Justices were either too desperately frightened to think of
anything but their own safety, or that they let the rebellion gather
head to suit the views of the English parliamentary party. There is not
much evidence for either supposition. Just at the moment when the Pale
was declaring against them they reported their destitute condition to
Leicester. The troops were unpaid. At Dublin they had but 3000 foot
and 200 horse, and the capital as well as Drogheda was surrounded by
armed bands who had already made food scarce, and who threatened to
cut off the water. A large extent had to be defended, and many of
the inhabitants were not to be trusted. A crusade was being preached
all over the country, and at Longford, notwithstanding the oath of
the O'Farrells, a priest was reported to have given the signal for a
massacre by ripping up the parson with his own hand. The mischief was
spreading daily, and agitators industriously declared that no help
would be sent from England. Ireland was not, however, forgotten, but
Parliament, to whom the King had specially entrusted it, had its own
business to do, and a popular assembly has no administrative energy. It
was not till the last day of December that Sir Simon Harcourt landed
with 1100 men. Three hundred more followed quickly, and George Monck
with Leicester's own regiment was not far behind. Grenville brought 400
horse about the same time. Harcourt had long military experience in the
Low Countries, and had lately commanded a regiment in Scotland. He had
a commission as Governor of Dublin, but Coote was in possession and was
not disturbed. Harcourt was very angry with the Lords Justices, but he
got on well with Ormonde and did good service until his death.[285]
[Sidenote: Sir Charles Coote.]
The number of troops available in Dublin was small, but they were much
better armed than the insurgents. It was thus a matter of policy to
act on the offensive and clear the surrounding country, demolishing
houses and castles where troublesome posts might be established.
This work, cruel in itself, was performed in a very ruthless manner,
and particular blame has always fallen upon Sir Charles Coote, whose
ferocity seems to have been as conspicuous as his courage. One story
told both by Bellings and Leyburn is that he called upon a countryman
to blow into the mouth of his pistol, that the simple fellow obeyed,
and that Coote shot him in that position. He never went to bed during
a campaign, but kept himself ready for any alarm, and lost his life in
a sally from Trim during a night attack at the head of only seventeen
men, the place being beset by thousands.[286]
FOOTNOTES:
[268] Alice Thornton's _Autobiography_; _Irish Lords Journals_,
February 22, 1640-1; Petition of the Irish Committee to the King, Cal.
State Papers, _Ireland_, 1640, addendum; Radcliffe's answer to the
Committee, _ib._ January 9, 1641, and their rejoinder, _ib._ February
12.
[269] _Irish Commons Journals_, February 16, 1640-1. The queries,
with the answers and declaration of the Commons, are in _Nalson_, ii.
572-589.
[270] _Irish Commons Journals_, 1641, p. 211; _Irish Lords Journals_,
February 27, March 4.
[271] _Irish Commons Journals_, June 7, July 10. The story about the
powder is from Borlase's _Rebellion_, ed. 1680, p. 12; he is not a very
good authority, but on this occasion is speaking of his father's action.
[272] Examination of Henry Macartan, quartermaster to Owen Roe
O'Neill, February 12, 1641-2, _Contemp. Hist._ i. 396; Vane to the
Lords Justices, March 16, 1640-1, Cox's _Hibernia Anglicana_, ii. 65;
Cole to the Lords Justices, October 11, 1641, printed in _Nalson_ and
elsewhere; Lords Justices and Council to Vane, June 30, 1641, State
Papers, _Ireland_; Deposition as to the Multifarnham meeting, May 3,
1642 (misprinted 1641), in Hickson's _Seventeenth Century_, ii. 355.
Temple produces evidence as to the rebellion being threatened long
before it actually happened, O'More himself having admitted as much,
p. 103. Patrick O'Bryan of Fermanagh swore on January 29, 1641-2 'that
he heard Colonel Plunket say that he knew of this plot eight years
ago, but within these three years hath been more fully acquainted
with it'--_Somers Tracts_, v. 586. Lieutenant Craven, who had been a
prisoner with the Ulster Irish, was prepared to swear that on March 3,
1641-2, he had heard Bishop Heber Macmahon tell his friends that he had
planned the rebellion years before, and knew from personal knowledge
that all Catholic nations would help; urging them to persevere and
extirpate heresy. Macmahon repeated this at Monaghan in January
1643-4--_Carte MSS._ vol. lxiii. f. 132.
[273] Lord Maguire's Relation, written by him in the Tower (after
August 1642) printed from the Carte Papers in _Contemp. Hist._ i. 501.
Parsons to Vane, August 3, State Papers, _Ireland_. Temple's History is
valuable here, for he was present in Dublin and signed the proclamation
on October 23, _Bellings_, i. 7-11.
[274] O'Connolly's Deposition, October 22, in Temple's _History_,
with the author's remarks, and his further Relation printed from a
manuscript in Trinity College in _Contemp. Hist._, i. 357.
[275] Chiefly from Temple's _History_, where O'Connolly's evidence,
and the proclamation of October 23, are given in full. There is an
independent account by Alice Thornton, Wandesford's daughter, who was
in Dublin at the time, aged fifteen. According to her O'Connolly swam
the Liffey. 'What shall I do for my wife?' he asked the conspirators,
and they answered 'Hang her, for she was but an English dog; he might
get better of his own country.'--_Autobiography_, Surtees Society, 1875.
[276] Sir F. Willoughby's narrative among the _Trinity College MSS._,
809-841, vol. xxxii. f. 178.
[277] _Temple_, pp. 93-4. Macmahon's Deposition, October 23, _Contemp.
Hist._ i. Appx. xix. Lords Justices and Council to Leicester, October
25, printed in Temple's _History_ and elsewhere. Macmahon's latter
evidence, 'taken at the rack' on March 22, 1641-2, gives further
details regarding the Ulster conspirators, but he knew nothing about
the Pale, and does not even mention O'More's name. Reports of Maguire's
trial have been often printed.
[278] Proclamation of October 29, 1641, in _Temple_ and elsewhere. Dean
Jones's 'Relation of the beginning and proceedings of the rebellion in
Cavan, &c.,' was printed in London by order of the House of Commons in
the spring of 1642, and reproduced in vol. v. of the _Somers Tracts_
as well as in Gilbert's _Contemporary History_, where the Cavan
Remonstrance, received November 6, and the Lords Justices' answer
dated November 10, are also printed. Rosetti at Cologne heard that
many Protestants had joined the rebels, which was certainly not true,
though some pretended to do so. _Roman Transcripts_, R.O., December
10, 1641. Another paper from Cologne speaks of the rebels 'quali
vanno decapitando et appiccando li Protestanti che non gli vogliono
assistere,' _ib._ December 22.
[279] Temple prints the commission to Gormanston as a specimen. Lords
Justices and Council to Leicester, December 14, in _Nalson_, ii. 911.
[280] Sir Henry Tichborne's letter to his wife, printed with Temple's
_History_, Cork, 1766. Carte's _Ormonde_, i. 193, and the King's
letters in vol. iii. Nos. 31 and 82.
[281] Carte's _Ormonde_, i. 192-5; Lords Justices to Ormonde, October
24, 1641, printed in _Confederation and War_, i. 227.
[282] Bellings gives the two documents referred to. He was a member
of this Parliament, and one of the Joint Committee. _Irish Commons
Journals._
[283] _Rushworth_, iv. 398-406; Nicholas to the King, November 1,
1641, in Evelyn's _Correspondence_; Macray's edition of Clarendon's
_History_, i. 408; May's _Long Parliament_, p. 127. May is a good
authority for what happened in London, but for events in Ireland
he depends chiefly on Temple. _Lords Journals_, November 1; Lang's
_Hist. of Scotland_, iii. 100; Vane to Nicholas, October 27, _Nicholas
Papers_, i. 58.
[284] _Nalson_, ii. 898; _Rushworth_, iv. 413; _Diurnal Occurrences_,
December 20-25, 1641.
[285] Despatch of December 14, in _Nalson_, _ut sup._ Monck's letter
from Chester, _ib._ 919, shows how little money Parliament had to
spare. In clerical circles abroad it was rumoured a little later that
Dublin would soon fall, and that five hundred Protestants who objected
to the cross in baptism had been marked with it on the forehead and
sent back to England--_Roman Transcripts_, R.O., February 2, 1642.
Four letters from Sir Simon Harcourt, January 3, 1641-42 to March 21,
in vol. i. of _Harcourt Papers_ (private circulation). As late as
September 16, 1642, Sir N. Loftus wrote from Dublin that the enfeebled
garrison could not hold out for six weeks if seriously attacked.
Food and ammunition were wanting, and the surviving soldiers sick or
starving--_Portland Papers_, i. 700.
[286] _Bellings_, i. xxxii. 35; George Leyburn's _Memoirs_, Preface;
Borlase's _Irish Rebellion_, p. 104, ed. 1743. Coote was killed May 7,
1642; when the name occurs later the reference is to his son, also Sir
Charles.