IRELAND UNDER THE STUARTS
VOL. II.
_By the same Author_
IRELAND UNDER THE TUDORS
Vols. I. and II.--From the First Invasion of the
Northmen to the year 1578.
8vo. 32_s._
Vol. III.--1578-1603. 8vo. 18_s._
LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO.
London, New York, Bombay, and Calcutta
IRELAND
UNDER THE STUARTS
AND
DURING THE INTERREGNUM
BY
RICHARD BAGWELL, M.A.
AUTHOR OF 'IRELAND UNDER THE TUDORS'
VOL. II. 1642-1660
_WITH MAP_
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA
1909
All rights reserved
CONTENTS
OF
THE SECOND VOLUME
CHAPTER XXI
MUNSTER AND CONNAUGHT, 1641-1642
PAGE
The rebellion spreads to Munster 1
The King's proclamation 3
St. Leger, Cork, and Inchiquin 3
State of Connaught 5
Massacre at Shrule 6
Clanricarde at Galway 7
Weakness of the English party 8
State of Clare--Ballyallia 10
Cork and St. Leger 12
CHAPTER XXII
THE WAR TO THE BATTLE OF ROSS, 1642-1643
Scots army in Ulster--Monro 14
Strongholds preserved in Ulster 16
Ormonde in the Pale 17
Battle of Kilrush 18
The Catholic Confederation 19
Owen Roe O'Neill 20
Thomas Preston 21
Loss of Limerick, St. Leger dies 22
Battle of Liscarrol 23
Fighting in Ulster 23
General Assembly at Kilkenny 25
The Supreme Council--foreign support 27
Fighting in Leinster--Timahoe 29
Parliamentary agents in Dublin 29
Siege of New Ross 31
Battle of Ross 32
A papal nuncio talked of 34
CHAPTER XXIII
THE WAR TO THE FIRST CESSATION, 1642-1643
The Adventurers for land--Lord Forbes 36
Forbes at Galway and elsewhere 38
A pragmatic chaplain, Hugh Peters 40
Forbes repulsed from Galway 41
A useless expedition 42
Siege and capture of Galway fort 43
O'Neill, Leven, and Monro 44
The King will negotiate 46
Dismissal of Parsons 47
Vavasour and Castlehaven 48
The King presses for a truce 48
Scarampi and Bellings 49
A cessation of arms, but no peace 50
Ormonde made Lord Lieutenant 51
CHAPTER XXIV
AFTER THE CESSATION, 1643-1644
The cessation condemned by Parliament 53
The rout at Nantwich 54
Monck advises the King 55
The Solemn League and Covenant 55
The Covenant taken in Ulster 57
Monro seizes Belfast 59
Dissensions between Leinster and Ulster 60
Failure of Castlehaven's expedition 60
Antrim and Montrose 61
The Irish under Montrose--Alaster MacDonnell 62
Rival diplomatists at Oxford 64
Violence of both parties 66
Failure of the Oxford negotiations 68
Inchiquin supports the Parliament 69
CHAPTER XXV
INCHIQUIN, ORMONDE, AND GLAMORGAN, 1644-1645
The no quarter ordinance 72
Roman Catholics expelled from Cork, Youghal, and Kinsale 73
The Covenant in Munster 74
Negotiations for peace 75
Bellings at Paris and Rome 76
Recruits for France and Spain 77
Irish appeals for foreign help 78
Siege of Duncannon Fort 80
Mission of Glamorgan with extraordinary powers 84
Glamorgan in Ireland 87
The Glamorgan treaty 88
CHAPTER XXVI
FIGHTING NORTH AND SOUTH--RINUCCINI, 1645
Castlehaven in Munster 90
Fall of Lismore, Youghal besieged 93
Relief of Youghal 94
Coote in Connaught 95
Rinuccini appointed nuncio 96
Scope of his mission 97
King and Queen distrusted at Rome 98
Rinuccini at Paris 99
His voyage to Ireland 100
Arrival in Kerry and welcome at Kilkenny 102
CHAPTER XXVII
THE ORMONDE PEACE, 1646
Glamorgan and Rinuccini 103
Arrest of Glamorgan 104
Charles repudiates him 106
Mission of Sir Kenelm Digby 107
Ireland must be sacrificed 108
Sir Kenelm Digby's treaty 109
Glamorgan swears fealty to the nuncio 111
Ormonde's peace with the Confederacy 112
Lord Digby's adventures 114
The peace proclaimed at Dublin 115
Siege of Bunratty 115
Battle of Benburb 117
Scots power in Ulster broken 120
Rejoicings in Ireland and at Rome 121
Rinuccini opposes the peace 122
Which the clergy reject 123
Riot at Limerick 125
Ormonde at Kilkenny 126
Triumph of Rinuccini 129
Quarrels of O'Neill and Preston 130
Lord Digby's intrigues 134
Rinuccini loses his popularity 136
Discords among the Confederates 137
CHAPTER XXVIII
SURRENDER OF DUBLIN AND AFTER, 1647
Dublin between two fires 140
Mission of George Leyburn 141
Ormonde's reasons for surrendering to Parliament 143
Digby's last plots in Ireland 144
Glamorgan as general 145
His army adheres to Muskerry 146
Preston routed at Dungan Hill 148
Parliamentary neglect 149
Victories of Inchiquin 150
Lord Lisle's abortive viceroyalty 151
Sack of Cashel 153
Mahony's _Disputatio Apologetica_ 154
Rinuccini and O'Neill 155
Battle of Knocknanuss 157
Declining fortunes of the Confederacy 158
Fresh appeals for foreign aid 159
Inchiquin distrusted by Parliament 161
Ormonde goes to England and France 162
CHAPTER XXIX
INCHIQUIN, RINUCCINI, AND ORMONDE, 1648
Inchiquin deserts the Parliament 164
His truce with the Confederacy 165
Rinuccini dependent on O'Neill 166
Who threatens Kilkenny 168
O'Neill, Inchiquin, and Michael Jones 170
O'Neill proclaimed traitor at Kilkenny 170
Ormonde returns to Ireland 171
His reception at Kilkenny 172
Monck master in Ulster 173
The Prince of Wales expected 174
The Confederacy dissolved 175
Rinuccini driven from Ireland 176
CHAPTER XXX
RINUCCINI TO CROMWELL, 1649
Ormonde's commanding position 179
Charles II. proclaimed 180
Milton and the Ulster Presbyterians 180
Monck, O'Neill, and Coote in Ulster 182
Inchiquin takes Drogheda 183
Ormonde defeated by Jones at Rathmines 184
Charles II. has thoughts of Ireland 186
Prince Rupert at Kinsale 187
Broghill consents to serve Parliament 189
Cromwell leaves London 189
CHAPTER XXXI
CROMWELL IN IRELAND, 1649
Cromwell restores discipline in Dublin 191
Storm of Drogheda 193
Ormonde's treaty with O'Neill 196
Death and character of Owen Roe O'Neill 197
Cromwell at Wexford 198
Storm of Wexford 200
Cromwell takes New Ross 201
Cork, Kinsale, and Youghal join Cromwell 203
Operations after New Ross 204
Siege of Waterford 205
Siege raised 206
Death of Michael Jones 206
Cromwell winters at Youghal 208
Broghill's campaign 208
Carrickfergus taken 209
The Clonmacnoise decrees 210
CHAPTER XXXII
CROMWELL IN IRELAND, 1650
Cromwell's declaration 212
A lady's experience at Cork 213
Cromwell's southern campaign 214
Operations in Leinster--Castlehaven 216
Cromwell takes Kilkenny 218
Siege of Clonmel, assault repulsed 220
The town capitulates 222
Battle of Macroom, Cromwell leaves Ireland 223
Submission of Protestant Royalists 225
CHAPTER XXXIII
ORMONDE'S LAST STRUGGLES, 1650
Dissensions among Irish Royalists 226
O'Neill succeeded by Bishop Macmahon 227
Englishmen turned out of the army 228
Battle of Scariffhollis 230
Assembly summoned to meet at Loughrea 232
Ormonde excluded from Limerick 232
Clanricarde excluded from Galway 233
Surrender of Tecroghan and Carlow 234
Waterford capitulates 235
Charlemont taken 236
Meeting of bishops at Jamestown 237
Ormonde's adherents excommunicated 238
Charles II. repudiates the Irish 239
A conference at Galway 241
The excommunication maintained--no Protestant governor 242
The Loughrea assembly can do little 243
Ormonde leaves Ireland, Clanricarde Deputy 243
CHAPTER XXXIV
CLANRICARDE AND IRETON, 1651
Plague and famine 245
A regicide government 246
Hugh O'Neill at Limerick 247
Charles IV., Duke of Lorraine 249
Taaffe's mission to Charles II. 251
A Lorraine envoy in Ireland 253
Extent of Lorraine succours 254
Terms of agreement with the Duke 256
Condemned by Ormonde and Clanricarde 257
No help after Worcester 258
Ireton passes the Shannon 261
Coote and Reynolds elude Clanricarde 262
Desperate defence of Gort--Ludlow 263
Siege of Limerick 263
Ludlow in Clare 266
Broghill's victory at Knockbrack 268
Capitulation of Limerick 271
Treatment of the besieged 273
Death and character of Ireton 277
CHAPTER XXXV
LAST PHASE OF THE WAR, 1652
Galway holds out 278
The Irish in Scilly 279
Meeting of officers at Kilkenny 280
Horrors of guerrilla warfare 280
Capitulation of Galway 283
"Tame Tories" 284
Clanricarde's last struggle 285
Castlehaven leaves Ireland--his memoirs 286
Clanricarde goes to England--his character 287
Submission of Irish leaders 289
Siege of Ross Castle 290
The Parliament an avenger of blood 292
The Leinster articles 293
Richard Grace 294
Ludlow's last service in the field 295
Arrival of Fleetwood 298
CHAPTER XXXVI
END OF THE WAR, AND ITS PRICE
Last stand at Innisbofin 298
Last stand in Ulster 299
Exhaustion of the country 300
Treatment of priests 301
Swordsmen sent abroad 303
Fleetwood commander-in-chief 304
Sir Phelim O'Neill tried and executed 305
Alleged commission from Charles I. 307
Lord Muskerry acquitted 308
Primate O'Reilly pardoned 310
Lord Mayo tried and shot 311
The Crown bound by the Adventurers' Act 312
CHAPTER XXXVII
PEACE, SETTLEMENT, AND TRANSPLANTATION, 1652-1654
Magnitude of the problem 315
Effect of the 1641 evidence 317
The Act of Settlement 317
Lambert's abortive appointment as Deputy 319
Expulsion of the Long Parliament 320
Barebone's Parliament--Irish members 321
Casting lots for Ireland 322
Claims of the army 322
The Act of Satisfaction 324
Transplantation proceeds slowly 325
The Protectorate established 326
Fleetwood Deputy 327
Cromwell's first Parliament--Irish members 328
Transplantation--Gookin and Lawrence 329
Tories, name and thing 330
The Waldensian massacre 332
Difficulties of transplantation, Loughrea and Athlone 333
Worsley and Petty--the Down survey 334
Clarendon on the settlement 338
Desolation of the towns 339
Proposed transplantation of Presbyterians 341
CHAPTER XXXVIII
HENRY CROMWELL, 1655-1659
Henry Cromwell supersedes Fleetwood 343
Deportation to the West Indies 344
Henry and the sectaries 346
Reduction of the army 347
Oliver and his son 348
Cromwell's second Parliament--Irish members 349
The oath of abjuration 350
Henry Lord Deputy 352
Henry made Lord Lieutenant by his brother 354
Ireland in the Parliament of 1659 355
Petty and his detractors 356
Henry recalled by the restored Rump 359
Attempted estimate of Henry Cromwell 360
CHAPTER XXXIX
THE RESTORATION
Provisional government, John Jones and Ludlow 362
Monck interferes 363
End of the revolutionary government 364
The Irish army proves Royalist 365
Monck gains Coote and Broghill 366
Ludlow's last efforts 366
Impeachment of Ludlow and others 368
New commissioners of Government appointed 369
General convention and declarations of officers 370
Charles II. proclaimed in Dublin 371
MAP
Ireland, to illustrate the Cromwellian settlement _to face p. 1_
[Illustration: IRELAND
to illustrate the
CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT]
IRELAND UNDER THE STUARTS
CHAPTER XXI
MUNSTER AND CONNAUGHT, 1641-1642
[Sidenote: The rebellion spreads to Munster, December, 1641.]
[Sidenote: St. Leger's raid.]
There was no outbreak in Munster during November, but Lord President
St. Leger knew that he had no real means of resisting one. The Lords
Justices had drawn off most of the soldiers, the rest were occupied as
garrisons, and practically he had only his own troop of horse to depend
on. Before the end of the month the Leinster rebels had come nearly to
the Suir, and he repaired with what men he could collect to Clonmel
lest Lady Ormonde, who was at Carrick, should fall into the invaders'
hands. The gentlemen of Tipperary came to meet him, but could or would
do nothing. 'Every man stands at gaze, and suffers the rascals to rob
and pillage all the English about them.' Ormonde's own cattle were
driven off. St. Leger's brother-in-law having been pillaged, he took
indiscriminate vengeance, and some innocent men were probably killed.
He as good as told the Tipperary magnates that they were all rebels.
In the meantime the Leinster insurgents had crossed the estuary of the
Suir in boats, and ravaged the eastern part of Waterford. St. Leger
rode rapidly through the intervening mountains, though there was snow
on the ground, and fell upon a party of plunderers at Mothel, near
Carrick. The main body were pursued to the river, and for the most
part killed. About seventy prisoners were taken to Waterford and there
hanged. He returned to Clonmel and thence back to Doneraile, for he
could do no more. 'My horses,' he told Ormonde, 'are quite spent;
their saddles have been scarce off these fourteen days; nor myself nor
my friends have not had leisure to shift our shirts ... the like war
was never heard of--no man makes head, one parish robs another, go home
and share the goods, and there is an end of it, and this by a company
of naked rogues.'[1]
[Sidenote: Mountgarret invades Munster.]
[Sidenote: Another mock commission.]
St. Leger's rough ways might furnish an excuse, but had no real effect
upon events. The flame steadily spread over the whole island, and
the contest fell more and more into the hands of extreme men. The
Tipperary insurgents were soon enrolled in companies, the leading
part being taken by Theobald Purcell, titular baron of Loughmoe, and
Patrick Purcell, who rose to distinction during the war. At the end
of January Mountgarret, who acted as general, invaded Munster with a
heterogeneous force. He was assisted by Michael Wall, a professional
soldier, and accompanied by Viscount Ikerrin, Lords Dunboyne and
Cahir, all three Butlers, and the Baron of Loughmoe. Kilmallock was
easily taken, and the Irish encamped at Redshard, near Kildorrery, at
the entry to the county of Cork. Broghill reckoned them at 10,000, of
whom half were unarmed. The President, who had 900 foot and 300 horse,
thought it impossible to dispute the passage, and preferred to parley.
Mountgarret demanded freedom of conscience, the preservation of the
royal prerogative, and equal privileges for natives with the English.
St. Leger answered that they had liberty of conscience already, that
he was not likely to do anything against the Crown, from whom he held
everything, and that he himself was a native. At last, on February 10,
articles were agreed upon by which the President agreed to abstain
from all further hostilities, both sides covenanting to do each other
no harm for one month. St. Leger was induced to grant these terms
mainly by the sight of a commission from Charles with the Great Seal
attached, but Broghill believed that this was a mere trick, and the
document fabricated. The President withdrew to Cork and Mountgarret
into Tipperary. The armistice was ill kept by the Irish, who were under
the influence of Patrick Purcell. Mountgarret never showed any military
ability.[2]
[Sidenote: Muskerry joins the Irish.]
[Sidenote: The King's proclamation.]
[Sidenote: Cork beleaguered by the Irish.]
[Sidenote: Inchiquin's first exploit, April 13, 1642.]
St. Leger had long cherished the belief that Donough MacCarthy,
Viscount Muskerry, would remain staunch. Muskerry, who had great
possessions, and who was married to Ormonde's sister, seems to have
tried the impossible part of neutral, but was soon drawn into the
vortex, and it was to him that the supposed commission to raise 4000
men had been made out. He tried to stop plundering, and even hanged a
few thieves, but the open country soon became untenable for English
settlers. Many flocked to Bandon, which was held by Cork's son Lord
Kinalmeaky. Others fled to Cork, Kinsale, and Youghal, to which latter
place Sir Charles Vavasour brought the first reinforcement of 1000 men.
Vavasour carried over the King's proclamation of January 1 against
the rebels, of which only forty copies had been printed, and Cork
immediately forwarded it to the Lord President. 'I like it exceedingly
well in all parts of it,' said St. Leger, 'save only that it is come
so late to light ... it were very good that we had some store of them
to disperse abroad, for of this one little notice can be taken.'
Cork maintained himself at Youghal and his sons in other places. St.
Leger, as soon as he had received reinforcements, relieved Broghill at
Lismore, and took Dungarvan from the Irish. Of all the old nobility
Lord Barrymore, who had married Cork's daughter, alone stood firm and
refused all offers from the Irish. On March 12 St. Leger wrote that he
was practically besieged in Cork by a 'vast body of the enemy lying
within four miles of the town, under my Lord of Muskerry, O'Sullivan
Roe, MacCarthy Reagh, and all the western gentry and forces to the
number of about 5000.' The nominal chief of this army was Colonel
Garret Barry, an experienced soldier, but without originality, and
more fit for a subordinate than for a chief command. On April 13,
two days before Ormonde's victory at Kilrush, Inchiquin--who was
married to St. Leger's daughter, and had studied war in the Spanish
service--persuaded his father-in-law to let him make a sally. With
only 300 foot and two troops of horse he surprised the Irish camp at
Rochfordstown, routed the ill-disciplined host completely, and pursued
them for some miles towards Ballincollig and Kilcrea. Muskerry's own
luggage fell into the victor's hands, and a great stock of corn,
which was very welcome. The only serious fighting was in the attack
of a small enclosure desperately defended by Florence McDonnell,
called Captain Sougane, perhaps in memory of the last Desmond rebel.
Inchiquin's loss was little or nothing, and he was soon able to ship
guns and take castles which obstructed the navigation of Cork harbour.
The southern capital was relieved from all immediate danger.[3]
[Sidenote: Limerick.]
[Sidenote: Waterford.]
Limerick did not at first take any decided part, but stood upon its
defence. Clonmel and Dungarvan admitted the Leinster insurgents in
December, a few days after St. Leger's raid. A party commanded by
Ormonde's brother Richard came to the gate of Waterford on the day
after Christmas, but the mayor, Francis Briver, refused to let him
in. Two other attempts were made before Twelfth Day. The mob of the
town and a majority of the corporation were opposed to the mayor, but
he held his own for some time, received English fugitives within the
walls, and kept them there till shipping could be had for themselves
and such property as they had been able to carry away. His own life
was frequently in danger, and his hand was badly bitten by a rioter who
resisted arrest. On another day, says Mrs. Briver, who took an active
part, 'when I heard so many swords were drawn at the market cross
against my poor husband, I ran into the streets without either hat or
mantle and laid my hands about his neck and brought him in whether he
would or no ... This and much more the mayor has suffered seeking to
let their goods go with the English.' Mountgarret was excluded, but in
April his son Edmund was admitted with 300 men, and the townsmen gave
up their cannon.[4]
[Sidenote: State of Connaught. Ranelagh and Clanricarde.]
[Sidenote: Events at Galway.]
[Sidenote: Hesitation of the Galway gentry.]
Roger Jones, created Viscount Ranelagh, was Lord President of
Connaught, and lay at Athlone with only a troop of horse and two
companies of foot. The government of the county of Galway was vested
by special patent in the Earl of Clanricarde, who positively refused
the request of the Roscommon gentlemen to take command of their county,
and thus ignore the Lord President's authority. Mayo was entrusted by
the Lords Justices to Lord Mayo and to Dillon, Viscount Costello, who
were both at this time professing Protestants. Sir Francis Willoughby,
the governor of Galway fort, was in Dublin when the rebellion broke
out, and his son Anthony, who was young and violent, commanded in his
absence. Clanricarde was at Portumna when he heard of the outbreak,
and he at once warned the mayor of Galway to be on his guard. The
Lords Justices refused to send arms from Dublin on the ground that
the passage was not safe, but told him to take what he could find
at Galway. A hundred calivers, many of them unserviceable, and as
many pikes were all that could be had. His own castles of Portumna,
Loughrea, and Oranmore were in a defensible state, and he came to
Galway on November 6. Richard Boyle, Archbishop of Tuam, took refuge
in the fort, and Clanricarde's castle of Aghenure, on the western
shore of Lough Corrib, was seized by the O'Flahertys. On the 11th a
town-meeting was held, and the citizens resolved to hold Galway for
the King. During the next three months there were frequent acts of
violence on both sides, Willoughby treating the citizens as conquered,
and they retorting by capturing and confining his stray soldiers. On
December 29 the lords of the Pale invited the nobility and gentry of
the county of Galway to join them, urging the legal grievances under
which Roman Catholics laboured, and the severe measures of Coote and
others. This did not make Clanricarde's task easier, but he came to
Galway on February 5, and patched up an accommodation. On the 11th he
left the town for a fortnight, and during the interval an outrage was
committed in the neighbourhood which rivalled the worst of the Ulster
atrocities.[5]
[Sidenote: The Shrule massacre, Feb. 1641-2.]
[Sidenote: Humanity of Walter Burke.]
According to the Rev. John Goldsmith, there were about 1000 English
and Scotch Protestants in Mayo, many of whom tried to save themselves
by going to mass. He had a brother a priest, and it was owing to the
Jesuit Malone and an unnamed friar that he escaped with his life.
Several Protestants, including one Buchanan of Strade, and John
Maxwell, Bishop of Killala, sought the protection of Sir Henry Bingham
at Castlebar, but he refused to admit Goldsmith, who was a convert from
Rome, lest his presence should increase the animosity of the Irish.
Lord Mayo promised to convoy the whole party safely to Galway fort,
and they set out on February 13, Malachy O'Queely, Roman Catholic
Archbishop of Tuam, 'faithfully promising the Lord of Mayo to accompany
them with his lordship and several priests and friars, to see them
safely conveyed and delivered in Galway, or at the Fort of Galway.'
The first night was spent at Ballycarra, the second at Ballinrobe, the
third at the Neale, and the fourth at Shrule, where a bridge joins
the counties of Mayo and Galway. Lord Mayo seems to have declined all
responsibility outside of his own county, and on Sunday the 17th he
dismissed his followers except one company commanded by Edmund Burke,
who proposed to go with them a few miles, and hand them over to an
escort of the county Galway. Burke's men began to plunder the unarmed
fugitives before they were out of Lord Mayo's sight, and he sent his
son Sir Theobald to keep order; according to Theobald's own account he
ran over the bridge with his sword drawn to help the English, but was
fired at and afterwards 'conveyed away for the safety of his life.'
The promised escort, consisting of two companies of the O'Flahertys,
then came up and joined the Mayo people in an indiscriminate massacre
of men, women, and children. The Bishop of Killala and a few others
were saved by the exertions of Ulick Burke, of Castle Hacket, but
those killed were not far short of a hundred, including Dean Forgie of
Killala and five other clergymen, of whom John Corbet was one. Thomas
Johnson, vicar of Turlough, escaped to the house of Walter Burke, who
treated him kindly and defended him. Young priests and friars asked
Stephen Lynch, prior of Strade, in his presence whether it was not
lawful to kill him as a heretic, and Lynch answered that it was as
lawful as to kill a sheep or a dog. The insurgents threatening to burn
Burke's house if he kept Johnson any longer, he managed to convey him
to Clanricarde's castle at Loughrea, and he 'ever after that time lived
by the noble and free charity of that good earl, until of late his
lordship sent him and divers other Protestants away with a convoy.'[6]
[Sidenote: Murders at Galway.]
[Sidenote: Clanricarde and the clergy.]
Clanricarde returned to Galway on March 1. After a fortnight's argument
he succeeded in getting both town and fort to make declarations of
loyalty and of peaceable intentions towards each other. As soon as his
back was turned the flames fanned by the clergy broke out afresh. A
party of armed townsmen disguised as boatmen seized an English ship,
murdered some of the crew, and towed her off in spite of Willoughby's
fire. When Galway surrendered to Coote in 1652 the perpetrators of
the outrage were specially excepted from pardon. The malcontents then
closed the gates, disarmed all the English within the walls, took an
oath of union, and invited the O'Flahertys and the Mayo insurgents
to join them. Willoughby burned some of the suburbs to prevent
the O'Flahertys from occupying them, and this military precaution
still further exasperated the citizens. But Clanricarde collected a
quantity of provisions at Oranmore and relieved the fort. His castle
of Tirellan, which commanded the river, enabled him to blockade the
town, the neighbourhood being constantly patrolled by cavalry. Supplies
ceased to reach the market, and before the end of April the leading
citizens were tired of resisting. While negotiations were proceeding
a man of war arrived with powder and provisions, and Clanricarde then
took high ground. In vain did the warden Walter Lynch, whom Rinuccini
afterwards made a bishop, fulminate the greater excommunication against
all who agreed to Clanricarde's articles. The mayor signed them
nevertheless, agreeing that all soldiers harboured in the town should
be sent away, that access to the town should be free and open, that
the Anglican clergy should enjoy their legal rights, and that no arms
or powder should be sold without Clanricarde's orders. The gates were
accordingly thrown open on May 13, the young men of the town laid down
their arms, and Clanricarde received the keys publicly from the mayor's
hands. Ormonde approved of these proceedings, but the Lords Justices
thought the rebellious town had been too leniently treated.[7]
[Sidenote: Order against intercourse with the Irish.]
[Sidenote: Sir James Dillon at Athlone.]
[Sidenote: Ormonde relieves Athlone.]
[Sidenote: An English party destroyed.]
Contrary to Ormonde's own judgment, though he signed with the rest,
the Lords Justices issued an order against holding any intercourse
with the Irish living near garrisons and against giving protection to
any of them. The soldiers were to prosecute the rebels with fire and
sword, and whenever Ormonde established a garrison the order in council
was to be sent to the commanders with directions for ensuring its
observance. This order bound both Ranelagh and Clanricarde, but neither
of them approved of it, and indeed it involved a censure upon the
latter's pacification at Galway. Athlone had since Christmas been beset
on the Leinster side by a mixed multitude under the general direction
of Sir James Dillon, who had made a truce with the Lord President so
far as to allow free access to the market. The castle, which stands
on the Connaught side of the Shannon, was thus provisioned and made
safe against assailants who had no battering train. After a time the
garrison began to make incursions into Westmeath, and this was regarded
by Dillon as a breach of faith. He had been distrusted by the Irish
for his moderation, but without gaining him the confidence of the
Government, and he thought it would be better to have at least one side
heartily with him. He accordingly seized the town on the Leinster side,
and threw up a work which prevented the garrison from crossing the
bridge. When he heard that Ormonde was coming to relieve the castle he
withdrew into the county of Longford. Ormonde left Dublin on June 14,
Mullingar and Ballymore being burnt at his approach, and on the 20th he
was at the village of Kilkenny, about seven English miles from Athlone.
There Ranelagh met him and took charge of the 2000 foot and two troops
of horse provided to reinforce him under Sir Michael Earnley. Ormonde
then returned to Dublin at once, though Clanricarde was most anxious
to meet him. Ranelagh put the new troops into various castles, three
hundred of them, under Captain Bertie, being assigned to a convent of
Poor Clares on Lough Ree. The nuns had been hurriedly conveyed away by
Dillon to an island in the lake, but the vestments remained and the
cellar was full. The soldiers drank the wine, and were masquerading
in the vestments when they were attacked by a party sent by Dillon.
Bertie fought bravely, but he and most of his men were killed. The Lord
President then concentrated his forces at Athlone and the open country
was left at the mercy of the Irish.[8]
[Sidenote: Dissensions amongst the English.]
[Sidenote: Fight at Ballintober, July 1642.]
[Sidenote: The Irish grow stronger.]
Ranelagh showed no energy, but he was in bad health and in want of
money and supplies. He said Earnley's men were rogues and gaol-birds,
and that he longed for a commission to raise men of his own country.
In the meantime he neglected to requisition the provisions available
in the neighbourhood, and the soldiers died of want and neglect. Coote
provided ten days' bread, and pressed him to do something while a few
men were left alive, whereupon he ordered an attack on Ballagh, which
was not taken without loss, and which Earnley says was quite useless.
Afterwards he joined his forces to those of Coote at Roscommon, and
Sir James Dillon attacked Athlone in his absence with 1500 men, but
was beaten off by the remnant left behind. A considerable Irish
force under O'Connor Roe and others assembled after some skirmishing
at Ballintober, where they were routed with a loss of six hundred
men. Coote and Earnley were not allowed to follow up the victory,
and Ranelagh refused to feed the latter's men any longer. They were
therefore dispersed among the garrisons which Coote commanded. Ranelagh
made no further attempt to keep the field, and in October he made
a truce for three months with the Irish. Clanricarde approved of
this, and would have been glad to have its operation extended, for
vengeance 'need not be so sharp here, as where blood doth call for
deserved punishment.' But the Lords Justices were all for war to the
knife, though they had not the means to wage it successfully, while
Lord Forbes and Captain Willoughby did their best to prevent peace.
The English Parliament were too busy at home to do much, while arms
and ammunition from the Continent poured in through Wexford and the
Ulster ports, with 'most of the colonels, officers, and engineers that
have served beyond seas for many years past ... which furnish all
parts of the kingdom but those few that adhere to me for his Majesty's
service.'[9]
[Sidenote: The rebellion in Clare, 1641-2.]
[Sidenote: Defence of Ballyallia, Feb.-Sept. 1642.]
Strafford's proposed settlement of Clare was never carried out, but
the Earls of Thomond were Protestants, and encouraged English tenants,
so that a considerable colony had in fact been established. Inchiquin,
who had agreed to the abortive plantation, threw his influence in
the same direction; but the great mass of O'Briens, Macnamaras, and
others favoured the insurgents. The outbreak in the north and the
attempt on Dublin were known at the fair of Clare on November 1, but
it was not till the end of the month that certain news came of the
insurrection having spread to the part of Tipperary near the Shannon.
Barnabas Earl of Thomond, who had an English wife, tried to keep the
peace, and adopted a trimming policy, but soon lost all control over
the country, though he held Bunratty and some other places. Robberies
of the Protestants' cattle soon began, and by Christmas the owners
were generally on their guard in castles, of which thirty-one were in
friendly hands. Three weeks later the troops raised by Thomond were
siding openly with the rebels. Ballyallia Castle, on a lake near Ennis,
belonged to Sir Valentine Blake, of Galway, who was a noted member of
the Catholic confederacy, but was leased to a merchant named Maurice
Cuffe, and became a place of refuge for at least a hundred Protestants.
Others from the neighbourhood escaped to England in a Dutch vessel.
About a thousand of the Irish encamped near the castle and built
cabins, but without coming to close quarters. They captured Abraham
Baker, an English carpenter apparently, and with his aid constructed
a 'sow,' such as was frequently used during the war. It was a house
35 feet by 9 feet, built of beams upon four wheels, strengthened with
iron and covered by a sharp ridge roof, and was moved by levers worked
from inside. The whole was kept together by huge spike-nails, which
cost 5_l._, 'being intended for a house of correction which should
have been built at Ennis.' Captain Henry O'Grady summoned the castle,
pretending to have his Majesty's commission to banish all Protestants
out of Ireland. Whereupon 'a bullet was sent to examine his commission,
which went through his thigh, but he made a shift to rumbel [_sic_] to
the bushes and there fell down, but only lay by it sixteen weeks, in
which time unhappily it was cured.' A girl who fell into the hands of
the besiegers was tortured until she confessed that the shot was fired
by the Rev. Andrew Chaplin. The Irish had no artillery, but devised
a cannon made of half-tanned leather with a three-pound charge. The
breech was blown out at the first fire, and the ball remained inside.
The sow was soon taken and those within killed. A kind of loose
blockade lasted from the beginning of February until near midsummer.
The besieged often suffered much from want of water, but sometimes
they ventured to skirmish in the open, joining with the garrison of
Clare Castle and capturing cattle. Baker, who was taken in the sow,
joined his captors, whereupon 'the Irish immediately hewed in pieces
his son, Thomas Baker, a proper young man, who was with them in their
camp.' After the fall of Limerick Castle one piece of artillery was
brought against Ballyallia, but the gunner was at once shot, and little
was done. After this the siege was much closer, famine and sickness
reducing the garrison by one half. They got horseflesh at times, but
were driven to eat salted hides, dried sheepskins and cats, all fried
in tallow. At last they were forced to capitulate, and the terms were
ill-kept, but in the end the survivors escaped to Bunratty, nearly all
ill and stripped of everything.[10]
[Sidenote: Cork and St. Leger, 1642.]
[Sidenote: Youghal, Lismore and Bandon.]
Cromwell is reported to have said that if there had been an Earl of
Cork in every county the Irish could never have raised a rebellion.
All his resources were expended in resisting it, and St. Leger, though
he co-operated with him, could not but feel bitterly the inferiority
of his own position. The Lords Justices never communicated with him,
and though they allowed him to levy forces, sent no money to pay them;
and indeed they had none to send. Earnest applications for cannon,
'six drakes and two curtoes,' were made in vain, and to take the
field without guns was impossible. 'If they have not wholly deserted
me,' he wrote to Ormonde, 'and bestowed the government on my Lord of
Cork, persuade them to disburden themselves of so much artillery as
they cannot themselves employ.' He died a few weeks later, leaving
the presidential authority in Inchiquin's hands. In the meantime Cork
himself had held Youghal, securing a landing-place for all succours
from England. His son Broghill defended Lismore, and Kinalmeaky was
governor of Bandon, which his father had walled and supplied with
artillery. Clonakilty was an open place, and the Protestant settlers
there and in the country round about escaped to Bandon, where the
townsmen made them pay well for their quarters. 'They were compelled,'
said Cork, 'to give more rent for their chamber or corner than my
tenants paid me for the whole house.' After Kinalmeaky's death at
Liscarrol Sir Charles Vavasour became governor, and the town was never
taken; the Bandonians making frequent sallies, like the Enniskilleners
in a later age. Lord Cork, who had enjoyed a rental of 50_l._ a day,
lost it all for the time, and was often in difficulties, but he saved
the English interest in Munster from total destruction.[11]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Carte's _Ormonde_, with the letters in vol. iii. of November 8,
13, 16, 18 and 22, and December 11. _Lismore Papers_, 2nd series,
vol. iv. St. Leger's letters of November 7, 10, and 28, and December
2 and 17. Bellings says 'some innocent labourers and husbandmen
suffered by martial law for the transgression of others,' and Carte
gives instances. St. Leger's letters from November 1 to December 11 in
_Egmont Papers_, i. 142-154.
[2] The best account of this episode is Broghill's letter printed in
vol. ii. of Smith's _Hist. of Cork; Bellings_.
[3] _Bellings_, i. 76; St. Leger's letters of February 26, March
26, and April 18, 1641-2, in _Lismore Papers_, 2nd Series. _Divers
Remarkable Occurrences_ by Thomas Baron, Esq., who lived fifteen years
six miles from Bandon and arrived in London July 2. This last contains
a curious dirge on Captain Sougane, beginning, 'O'Finnen McDonnell
McFinnen a Cree' which has these lines:--
Thy general Barry of three pounds a day,
With armed Lord Muskerry did both run away.
We Cork men bewail dee, but yet for dy glory
Tank heaven to have pulled de from purgatory,
For all our priests swear dou art not in hell,
Dear Finnen McDonnell McFinnen farewell.
[4] Lords Justices and Council to Leicester, _Confederation and War_,
ii. 28; Letters from Mr. and Mrs. Briver, _ib._ 7-22.
[5] A good account in Hardiman's _Hist. of Galway_. Clanricarde's
letters, November 14 to January 23, 1641-2, in Carte's _Ormonde_, vol.
iii., and the lords of the Pale to the Galway gentry, December 29,
_ib._ Clanricarde's correspondence with the Roscommon gentry is in
_Contemporary Hist._ i. 380.
[6] Deposition of Goldsmith in 1643 in _Hickson_, i. 375. Other
witnesses in 1653, _ib._ i. 387-399 and ii. 1-7. Henry Bringhurst's
evidence, as being rather favourable to Lord Mayo, has been chiefly
followed for the massacre. See also Hardiman's _Hist. of Galway_, p.
110, and the letters in Clanricarde's _Memoirs_, 1757, pp. 77, 80. The
Galway men tried to throw the blame on their Mayo neighbours, for fear
of Clanricarde.
[7] Clanricarde to Essex, May 22, 1642; Ormonde to Clanricarde, June
13, in Carte's _Ormonde_. Hardiman's _Hist. of Galway_, p. 111.
[8] Order in Council, May 28, 1642, in _Confederation and War_, ii. 45.
Earnley's account, _ib._ 134; _Bellings_, i. 85. Carte's _Ormonde_, i.
345.
[9] Sir Michael Earnley's Relation (soon after July 20, 1642) in
_Confederation and War_, ii. 134. Clanricarde's letters of July 14 and
20, and October 26, in his _Memoirs_, pp. 190, 197, 281.
[10] Narrative of Maurice Cuffe, printed by T. Crofton Croker, _Camden
Society_, 1841. Joseph Cuffe to H. Jones, November 12, 1658, MS. in
Trinity College, 844, No. 37. Burnet says (i. 29) guns partly made of
leather were used with effect by the Scots at Newburn.
[11] St. Leger to Ormonde, May 12, 1642, in Carte's _Ormonde_, iii.
Appx. No. 78. Inchiquin to Cork, November 24, 1642, with the answer, in
Bennett's _History of Bandon_, chap. vii.