CROMWELL IN IRELAND, 1650
[Sidenote: Ormonde and the Clonmacnoise decrees.]
In their published utterances the bishops were careful to say nothing
alarming to Protestants, and to lay stress upon the royalism or loyalty
of those for whom they spoke. In writing to Rome they were silent
about the King, but urged the necessity of union among Catholics.
Ormonde, who had no illusions, thought it much that there had been no
public demand for his own removal; but this too was to come later. He
knew that Antrim had been intriguing to obtain such a declaration,
and he begged the King to recall him before his position became quite
untenable. Charles directed him to hold on as long as possible, and to
leave Ireland when he was finally convinced that nothing more could be
done.[166]
[Sidenote: Cromwell's Declaration, Jan. 1649-1650.]
[Sidenote: Liberty of conscience.]
[Sidenote: The laws of war.]
[Sidenote: Cromwell misunderstood Ireland.]
The printed proceedings of the Clonmacnoise prelates reached Cromwell
at Youghal, and he lost no time in answering it. The task of uniting
clergy and laity, he said, was only necessary because the distinction
had been invented by 'the Antichristian Church' of Rome, and maintained
by her priests as the foundation of their own power. Their royalism
was a 'fig-leaf of pretence,' whereas they really fought for their
own supremacy. Cromwell had a right to say that they began the war,
but he much exaggerated the goodness of the terms on which English
and Irish had lived before the outbreak. No doubt there were some
friendships, but all competent observers had long realised that the
Ulster settlement would be disturbed whenever the children of the
dispossessed natives had the chance. As to liberty of conscience, he
took his stand upon the purely English ground that the mass had long
been prohibited by law, and that he could not extirpate what had no
root. He reiterated his statement to the governor of Ross and said
plainly, 'I shall not, where I have power, and the Lord is pleased
to bless me, suffer the exercise of the mass where I can take notice
of it.... As for the people, what thoughts they have in matters of
religion in their own breasts I cannot reach; but think it my duty if
they walk honestly and peaceably, not to cause them in the least to
suffer for the same.' He defended the raising of money by mortgaging
lands which rebels would forfeit, but denied that there was any
intention to extirpate the people. He defied anyone to give an instance
since his arrival in Ireland of 'one man not in arms, massacred,
destroyed, or banished' with impunity. Those who had been exiled to the
West Indies were all in fact liable to be put to the sword according to
the laws of war. All who had not been actors in the rebellion should
be spared and protected. 'And having said this,' he concluded, 'and
purposing honestly to perform it,--if this people shall headily run
on after the counsels of their prelates and clergy and other leaders,
I hope to be free from the misery and desolation and blood and ruin
that shall befall them; and shall rejoice to exercise utmost severity
against them.' Cromwell's ideas about toleration were in advance of
his age, but his knowledge of Ireland before 1641 was derived from the
published histories of May and Temple.[167]
[Sidenote: Lady Fanshawe at Cork, Nov. 1649.]
When Lady Fanshawe joined her husband, a few weeks before Cromwell's
landing, she found Cork an agreeable place of residence enough, and
so it remained for about six months. She lived in the old Augustinian
Friary called the Red Abbey, which then belonged to Michael Boyle,
Dean of Cloyne, who vied with Inchiquin and Roscommon in civility to
her. She calls the latter Lord Chancellor, but he is not generally
included in the list. 'My Lord of Ormonde had a very good army, and
the country was seemingly quiet.' And so it continued outwardly for
some time, though Inchiquin's power had been gradually wasting away
since Rathmines. Suddenly one night, at the beginning of November, Lady
Fanshawe was roused from her bed by the sound of cannon, and by screams
and cries outside. Opening the window, she saw a crowd, who informed
her that they were 'all Irish stripped and wounded and turned out of
the town by Colonel Jeffries.' Hurrying off to the Colonel she reminded
him of her husband's former civilities to him, which he handsomely
acknowledged, and at once granted a free pass. She passed 'through
thousands of naked swords' with her family, 1000_l._ in cash and other
light property, and got to Kinsale where she was safe for the moment.
Cromwell was much annoyed at Fanshawe's papers having thus escaped
him.[168]
[Sidenote: Cromwell's campaign in the South, Jan.-March, 1650.]
[Sidenote: Surrender of Fethard, Feb. 3.]
The Parliamentary managers were alarmed by the negotiations of Charles
with the Scots. They knew, too, that Fairfax could hardly be trusted to
lead an attack on the Presbyterian kingdom, and they resolved to recall
Cromwell. The letter was written on January 8, but it did not reach him
until he was already in the field again, and he thought proper to treat
the reports of its coming as Nelson treated the signal at Copenhagen.
On January 29 he set out from Youghal with twelve troops of horse,
three troops of dragoons, and between two and three hundred foot.
Reynolds and Ireton, with about the same number of horse and dragoons
and 2000 foot, were sent to Carrick to threaten Ormonde's quarters
at Kilkenny. Cromwell himself marched towards Mitchelstown, took
Kilbenny Castle, Clogheen, and Rehill, near Cahir, and went from there
to Fethard. The last-named walled town surrendered after a night's
discussion 'upon terms which we usually call honourable; which I was
the willinger to give, because I had little above two hundred foot,
and neither ladders nor guns nor anything else to force them.'
[Sidenote: Cashel protected.]
[Sidenote: Callan taken.]
[Sidenote: Enniscorthy surprised and retaken.]
[Sidenote: Ardfinane.]
[Sidenote: Cahir surrendered, Feb. 24]
The besiegers had not fired a single shot. The honourable terms were
that the garrison should march away with arms and baggage, and that the
inhabitants, including priests, should be fully protected. Some Ulster
foot at Cashel, hearing of Cromwell's arrival at Fethard, ran away in
confusion, and he protected the townsfolk at their own request. He
then went onto Callan, which he found already in Reynolds's hands. The
garrison of two castles 'refusing conditions seasonably offered were
put all to the sword.' Those in a larger castle surrendered, and were
allowed to march away without their arms. Among the prisoners taken in
a skirmish was one of those who had betrayed Enniscorthy, and he was
hanged. Some Irish gentlemen had feasted the garrison and sent in women
to sell them spirits. When most of the soldiers were drunk the enemy
rushed in and killed all, except four who had been bribed to open the
gates. Colonel Cooke, the governor of Wexford, soon retook Enniscorthy
by storm, and in his turn put all the garrison to the sword. Reynolds
was despatched to take Knocktopher, and after a fortnight in the field,
Cromwell returned to Fethard, 'having good plenty of horsemeat and
man's meat' in that rich district. Ireton took Ardfinane, of which
Henry II. himself had chosen the site, and which was important to
bring guns 'ammunition, and other things' from Youghal and Cappoquin.
Cromwell came before Cahir, which was surrendered without costing
a man. He was told that it had stood an eight weeks' siege against
Essex, but that most incompetent of heroes really took it in two days.
Kiltinan, Goldenbridge and Dundrum were also taken, and the county of
Tipperary submitted to a contribution of 1500_l._[169]
[Sidenote: Operations in Leinster, Dec.-March, 1649-50.]
[Sidenote: Ballisonan taken, March 1.]
The regicide John Hewson was governor of Dublin with a numerous
garrison, consisting chiefly of sick and wounded. A division of
these half-recovered invalids had won the fight at Glascarrig and
joined Cromwell, and by the end of the year a good many more were
fit for service, and some reinforcements had also arrived from
England. Kildare, the hill of Allen, Castle Martin and other places
were occupied, but Kilmeague was found too strong to attack without
artillery. When his provisions were spent Hewson returned to Dublin,
where he received a curious proposition from the strong garrison of
Ballisonan or Ballyshannon near Kilcullen. This he describes as 'having
double works and double moats full of water, one within another, and
a mount with a fort upon it, most of the officers with me esteeming
the taking of it to be unfeazable.' After the rout at Rathmines some
of Ormonde's fugitive cavalry had summoned this formidable stronghold,
which surrendered to them under the impression that Dublin was taken.
The defenders now offered to join the Parliament, on condition of being
made a regiment with their own officers, liberty of religion, and two
priests as chaplains. Their arrears since May were to be paid, Taaffe
and Dillon to be excluded from any accommodation with the Parliamentary
party. In fact, they preferred Cromwell to Ormonde, which shows how
desperate the latter's position had become. Such terms were of course
unacceptable, and Hewson attacked Ballisonan with a force of 2000 foot
and 1000 horse, with two guns and a mortar. An entrenched battery was
erected, but the place capitulated before any breach had been made.
Hewson was glad to give easy terms, as Castlehaven was at Athy, and
might make an attempt to raise the siege. The garrison marched out
with the honours of war, Maryborough and Kilmeague were abandoned by
the Irish, and all Kildare except the extreme south was in Hewson's
power.[170]
[Sidenote: Ormonde withdraws into Clare, February.]
[Sidenote: Castlehaven commands in Leinster.]
[Sidenote: The net drawn round Kilkenny.]
After consulting the Commissioners of Trust, Ormonde allowed agents to
meet at Kilkenny in January for the discussion of grievances affecting
the different districts, but nothing was reduced to writing, and there
were, as he expected, no results. The agents proposed an adjournment
to Ennis, and to this he agreed. The approach of Cromwell's forces on
the south and of Hewson's on the north had doubtless something to say
to this, and the plague which began to rage in the town still more.
Cromwell made a strong reconnaissance towards Kilkenny, where a Captain
Tickle had been bribed or in some other way induced to undertake that
one of the gates should be opened, but the plot was discovered and
the captain hanged; so that Cromwell had to retire. In spite of the
plague and of enemies within and without, Castlehaven used to go out
fox-hunting in the early morning. Ormonde met him in the field, told
him that it was decided to withdraw into Clare, and appointed him,
much to his disgust, general of Leinster. Ormonde himself went to
Limerick during the first week in February, and was not destined to see
Kilkenny again until after the Restoration. Cromwell, having failed
in the plot with Tickle, waited patiently and let the plague do his
work. Castlehaven had one success, surprising Athy and taking Hewson's
garrison of 700 men, but he found the place untenable. 'Not knowing,'
he writes, 'what to do with my prisoners, I made a present of them to
Cromwell, desiring him by letter to do the like to me ... but he little
valued my civility, for in a very few days after he besieged Gowran,
where Colonel Hammond commanded, and the soldiers mutinying and giving
up the place, he caused Hammond with some English officers to be shot
to death.' Cromwell's own account confirms this, and he adds that
Hammond was 'a principal actor in the Kentish insurrection,' and so
not entitled to mercy more than Lucas or Lisle. A priest who acted as
chaplain to the Roman Catholic soldiers was hanged. 'I trouble you with
this the rather because this was the Lord of Ormonde's own regiment.'
At Gowran Cromwell was joined by Hewson, who had taken Castledermot,
Lea, Kilkea, and other castles in the meantime, he himself having
taken Thomastown. Castlehaven did not find himself strong enough to
meet Hewson in the field. Lord Dillon promised to join him with about
3000 men, but they never came, and all he could do was to provision
Kilkenny and leave it with a garrison of 1000 foot and 200 horse. Soon
afterwards an Ulster regiment, which was nearly half his army, deserted
on account of the plague, saying that they were ready to fight against
men but not against God. Having tried to relieve Kilkenny in vain he
gave orders to the governors of the town and castle to make the best
terms they could, and not to attempt to hold the latter after the
former had surrendered. Cromwell and Hewson corresponded about this
time by letters enclosed in balls of wax, so that the messenger might
swallow them if necessary. Some of these reached Castlehaven, but only
served to show him that he was hopelessly overmatched.[171]
[Sidenote: Capitulation of Kilkenny, March 27.]
[Sidenote: Citizens and soldiers]
[Sidenote: Fair terms granted.]
Cromwell approached Kilkenny by Bennet's Bridge and sent in his summons
on March 22. Sir Walter Butler, a cousin of Ormonde's, was governor of
the town, and briefly replied that he held it for the King. A battery
with three guns was accordingly planted at St. Patrick's Church, and
on March 25 about a hundred shot struck the wall near the castle.
An attempt to carry the breach failed with the loss of a captain
and twenty or thirty men, the garrison having erected earthworks
and palisades inside. At the same time a thousand men were detached
to attack the Irish town near the cathedral, where the wall was but
weakly defended by the townsmen, and the Cromwellians entered with a
loss of only three or four men. After this, the walled portion of the
town on the other side of the Nore was easily taken, and the victors
endeavoured to enter the main city over St. John's Bridge, but they
were driven back with a loss of forty or fifty men. In the meantime
fresh guns were brought up, and the mayor sent to represent the
difficult position of the citizens. No doubt, he wrote, Cromwell would
be willing to grant them fair terms, but they were in the power of the
garrison, and so 'in danger of ruin as well from our own party as
from that of your Honour's,' and it was reasonable that the soldiers
should be included. To avoid further loss, and perhaps to get away
from the plague, Cromwell after some discussion acquiesced in this
view, and on the next day Butler saw that further resistance would be
useless. Considering that Kilkenny had been the very centre of the
lately powerful Confederacy, the terms granted were liberal enough. The
garrison marched out with the honours of war, surrendering their arms
two miles out of town and then going where they pleased. The citizens
submitted to a payment of 2000_l._ in two instalments, in consideration
of which Cromwell had 'made it death for any man to plunder.' Those
who wished to remove themselves or their property might do so,
'none excepted,' within three months. There was no armistice during
the negotiations, and the garrison of Cantwell Castle, now called
Sandford's Court--'very strong, situated in a bog, well furnished with
provisions of corn'--surrendered, though specially ordered by Sir
Walter Butler to abandon their post and strengthen the scanty garrison
of Kilkenny. They were allowed to go beyond sea.[172]
[Sidenote: The town not plundered.]
[Sidenote: Damage to the churches.]
[Sidenote: Death of Bishop Rothe.]
Leaving the plague-stricken city with a small garrison, Cromwell went
to Carrick. 'The goodness of God,' says a contemporary newswriter,
'was exceedingly manifested in preventing the plunder of the place,
which must needs have hazarded the army by infection.' None of the
soldiers, in fact, suffered, which was 'the Lord's own doing and
marvellous in our eyes.' The clergy were not in any way excepted from
the terms granted to the citizens, and there is no evidence that
violence was done to any priests. But the churches suffered terribly,
Bishop Ledred's beautiful painted windows, which even Bale had
spared, were broken in pieces, and Thomas Earl of Ormonde's splendid
tomb was totally destroyed. A special interest attaches to the fate
of the bishop, the learned David Rothe, who had opposed Rinuccini.
There is nothing to show that he suffered from violence, but he was
seventy-eight years old, and it is not surprising that he died in great
discomfort, and in concealment. Bishop Lynch, who wrote from Clonfert
in August, says he was stripped and mocked by the soldiers, but allowed
to enter the nearest house, where he died within three weeks of old age
and disease. Archbishop Fleming, who was also in Ireland, and who wrote
in June, says much the same thing.[173]
[Sidenote: Siege of Clonmel, May.]
[Sidenote: Vain appeals to Ormonde,]
[Sidenote: and to Preston.]
[Sidenote: Clonmel is assaulted.]
[Sidenote: Cromwell repulsed.]
In the meantime Ennisnag Castle was taken, 'where were gotten a
company of rogues which had revolted from Colonel Jones. The soldiers
capitulated for life and their two officers were hanged for revolting.'
Adjutant-General Sadleir, with two guns, took all the castles in
the Suir valley from Clonmel to Waterford without resistance except
at Poulakerry, five miles below the former town. This was taken
by assault, thirty or forty being killed, 'and the rest remaining
obstinate were fired in the castle.' On April 27 Cromwell came before
Clonmel, and offered favourable terms, which were promptly rejected by
the governor, Hugh Boy O'Neill, a nephew of Owen Roe, who had about
1500 Ulster men with him. O'Neill, whom Cliffe describes as 'an old
surly Spanish soldier,' had expected to be attacked as far back as
February, and Ormonde had written from Ennis at the beginning of March
to say that he would 'draw all the forces of the kingdom into a body
for the town's relief.' But he could do nothing, for the Commissioners
of Trust were more anxious to thwart him than Cromwell, and would not
allow a levy to be made in the county of Limerick. An attempt to send
an expedition from the county of Cork was foiled by Broghill, and
Clonmel was left to its fate. Preston had promised, but failed, to send
ammunition from Waterford, and with Carrick in an enemy's hand it is
not easy to see how he could have done so. O'Neill and the mayor, John
White, made a last appeal to Ormonde. The long threatened attack had
come at last, and the preservation of the town was almost Ireland's
last hope. 'It is,' they wrote, 'our humble suit that the army, if in
any reasonable condition, may march night and day to our succour.' But
no such army was available, and Cromwell planted his battery without
hindrance. Reynolds and Theophilus Jones had a force in the field
sufficient to prevent Castlehaven from giving any trouble. Approaches
were made from the north side of the town, and there were many sallies
and much fighting before the breach was practicable. A comparison of
extant accounts fortified by local tradition seems to indicate that the
spot was near a gate which stood a little to the eastward of St. Mary's
Church. The assault was made about eight in the morning of May 9, and
the storming party entered without difficulty, but found that their
work was still to do. O'Neill had manned the houses and erected two
breastworks of 'dunghills, mortar, stones and timber,' making a lane
about eighty yards inwards from the breach with a masked battery at the
end. The 'British Officer,' who got his facts 'not only from officers
and soldiers of the besiegers,' but also from the besieged, describes
what followed. The stormers poured in and found themselves caught in a
trap. Those in front cried 'Halt,' and those behind 'Advance,' 'till
that pound or lane was full and could hold no more.' Two guns hailed
chain-shot upon this dense mass, while a continual fire was kept up
from the houses and the breastworks. Volleys of stones were thrown, and
great pieces of timber hurled from slides which O'Neill's ingenuity had
provided, 'so that in less than an hour's time about a thousand men
were killed in that pound, being atop one another.' Colonel Culham, who
led the stormers, and several other officers were among the slain, and
the survivors were driven out again through the breach. Contemporary
accounts estimate Cromwell's total loss at Clonmel at somewhere from
1500 to 2500. This repulse, said Ireton afterwards, was 'the heaviest
we ever endured either in England or here.' His own regiment lost most
of all. It is stated that Major Fennell, who commanded the few cavalry
within the town, had plotted, like Tickle at Kilkenny, to open one of
the gates. This was certainly believed at the time, but if there was
such a plot it came to nothing.[174]
[Sidenote: The garrison escape,]
[Sidenote: and the town capitulates.]
O'Neill had not ammunition to continue the defence, and he knew that
there was no hope of relief. About 9 o'clock the same night he slipped
out quietly by the bridge and made his way to Waterford, advising the
mayor to make the best terms he could. White accordingly capitulated
both for the inhabitants and for the garrison. All arms and ammunition
in the town were surrendered, the civil population being guaranteed
protection 'for life and estate, from all plunder and violence of the
soldiery.' Next morning the besiegers marched in, and though Cromwell
was angry at being outwitted, the conditions were kept. The garrison
were pursued and stragglers cut off, amongst whom there were probably
some women and at least one priest. On reaching Waterford admission
was denied by Preston to O'Neill's men. There was plague both in his
camp and in the city, and after a time he ordered his foot soldiers to
shift for themselves. He and Fennell, with the horse, made their way to
Limerick.[175]
[Sidenote: Inchiquin and Broghill march.]
[Sidenote: Battle of Macroom, April 10.]
Inchiquin was in Kerry in January, whence he invaded Limerick with
three regiments of cavalry, sweeping away the cattle and devastating
most of the county. Broghill and Henry Cromwell fell upon his camp
towards the end of March, and drove him across the Shannon 'with more
cows than horses.' Inchiquin's men were chiefly English, and some of
the officers were shot as deserters from the Parliament. After this
Broghill joined Cromwell, who was then preparing to attack Clonmel, and
was detached by him to deal with a force of 4000 foot and 300 horse
which had been raised in Kerry, chiefly by the exertions of Boetius
Egan, Bishop of Ross, an Observant friar promoted by Rinuccini. The
Irish, bent on relieving Clonmel, advanced to Macroom, and garrisoned
Carrigadrohid Castle on the Lee, which Broghill reached on April 8.
He had 1500 cavalry, and hurried on, leaving a like number of foot to
guard his rear. He seems to have had no guns with him, but the Irish
probably thought he had, for they burned Muskerry's castle at Macroom,
and assembled in the park. They were raw levies and probably badly
armed, for they were routed in a very short time, 'though in a place,'
says Broghill, 'the worst for horse ever I saw, and where one hundred
musketeers might have kept off all the horse of Ireland.' Several
hundred were killed, and among the prisoners were the bishop and Lord
Roche's son, the high sheriff of Kerry, who was in equal authority with
him. Carrigadrohid was taken by parading pieces of timber with teams
of oxen, as if they were guns. 'I gave orders,' says Broghill, 'that
if the garrison in it delivered it not up, we should hang the bishop
before it. The former not being done the latter was.... The bishop
was wont to say there was no way to secure the English but by hanging
them. That which was his cruelty became his justice.' The castle was
then surrendered on fair terms, and Broghill went back to the siege of
Clonmel.[176]
[Sidenote: Cromwell leaves Ireland, May 26.]
[Sidenote: His plans of reform.]
Cromwell quitted Ireland on May 26, leaving Ireton as his deputy. His
last extant letter before going was to Hewson, in favour of young Lord
Moore, son of the brave soldier who was killed at Portlester, and
grandson of Lord Chancellor Loftus. Moore had fought against Cromwell,
who nevertheless ordered that he should be 'fairly and civilly
treated, and that no incivility or abuse be offered unto him by any
of the soldiery, either by restraining his liberty or otherwise; it
being a thing which I altogether disprove and dislike that the soldiers
should intermeddle in civil affairs farther than they are lawfully
called upon.' Necessity afterwards devised the major-generals, but it
was to civil justice, to a Matthew Hale rather than a Desborough, that
Cromwell looked for real improvement. It was a crime, he said, 'to hang
a man for six and eightpence, and I know not what--to hang for a trifle
and commit murder.' In Ireland particularly much might be done for the
poor people by the cheap and impartial administration of justice. They
had suffered more by the oppression of the great than any 'in that
which we call Christendom. And indeed they are accounted the bribingest
people that are, they having been inured thereto.' And he rightly
considered that the best guarantee for purity was to pay good fixed
salaries to the judges and to get rid of the fees and perquisites which
had been a 'colour to covetous practices.'[177]
[Sidenote: Inchiquin charged with treachery]
[Sidenote: Submission of Protestant Royalists.]
[Sidenote: Easy terms given.]
[Sidenote: Safe conducts rejected by Ormonde and Inchiquin.]
Some papers, which Broghill thought important, were found in Bishop
Egan's possession. An anonymous correspondent of Hyde's says one of
them was a letter in which Inchiquin proposed during the latter part
of 1649 to go over to Cromwell. Carte, without giving his authority,
says that some such letter was forged by Antrim, who was perhaps
tricky enough to do it, and the editor of the Clarendon State Papers
adopted Carte's account. Probability seems against Inchiquin having
made any such overtures, but his position after Rathmines was very
uncomfortable, for his men left him and he knew that the Irish would
always hate him for his proceedings at Cork, Cashel, and elsewhere.
He admitted that he had talked too freely to one of the enemy's
trumpeters, and it may be that he asked questions which gave rise to
the idea that he was wavering. But in April 1650, when Kilkenny had
fallen and Ormonde had no army in the field, Protestant Royalists
grew tired of the hopeless struggle, and Cromwell was ready enough to
meet them halfway. Nor did Ormonde make any difficulties. Sir Robert
Sterling, Colonel Daniell, and Michael Boyle, Dean of Cloyne, made
the first advances 'on behalf of the Protestant party in Ireland now
under the command or obedience of the Lord Marquis of Ormonde.' They
were all, whether soldiers or civilians, allowed to go where they
pleased on engaging not to act against the Parliament, taking all
their movable property except horses, arms, and ammunition, and even
these they might sell to the army or to English Protestants. Questions
of land were reserved for the decision of Parliament, and until that
was given were referred to the Commissioners for Revenue, and those
who gave assurance of fidelity to the Parliament might enjoy their
estates in the meantime. Colonel Wogan and the officer who helped him
to escape from Cork were the only persons excepted. Lord Montgomery
surrendered at Enniskillen, Sir Thomas Armstrong at Trim, and Colonel
Daniell at Doneraile. Dean Boyle had strict orders not to make any
overtures on behalf of Ormonde or Inchiquin, but Cromwell nevertheless
sent them both passes to go beyond seas. Admiral Penn, whose squadron
lay in the Shannon, was directed to make it easy for any of the
Protestants who came in his way. Ormonde contemptuously rejected the
safe conduct, which was civil enough in point of form, adding that if
he ever had to return the compliment he would not use it 'to debauch
any that commanded' under Cromwell. Inchiquin was angry, but his wife
had already been allowed to depart with her family and servants under
convoy to Middleburgh.[178]
FOOTNOTES:
[166] Letter from Clonmacnoise signed by the four archbishops and seven
bishops, including the secretary of the congregation, to the Pope,
December 12, 1649, in _Spicilegium Ossoriense_, i. 327. Ormonde to
the King, December 15 and 24, and the answer from Jersey, February 2,
1649-50, in Carte's _Original Letters_, ii. 417-425.
[167] Declaration of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for the undeceiving
of deluded people, January 1649-50, in _Carlyle_, ii. 1, and see the
strictures on this 'remarkablest State paper' in the notes to the 1904
edition and in Gardiner's _Commonwealth_, i. 163-166; the Declaration
was first printed at Cork and reprinted in London, March 21.
[168] Lady Fanshawe's _Memoirs_, p. 53, ed. 1907. Sir Richard Bolton
died about a year before the revolt of Cork, after which the Great Seal
of Ireland may have been placed irregularly in the hands of Roscommon,
who had married Strafford's sister.
[169] Cromwell to Lenthall, February 15, 1649-50, and to Bradshaw,
March 5, in _Carlyle_; also letters in the Supplement, pp. 54-56. In
the articles for the surrender of Fethard (No. 55) it is stipulated
that the garrison might retire to 'any place within his Majesty's
quarters.' When Cromwell signed this, he either did not notice the
draftsman's expression, or thought it did not matter. For Enniscorthy
see Whitelock's _Memorials_, p. 437.
[170] _Bellings_, vii. 129. _Several Letters from Ireland_, March
18, 1649-50. This tract is reprinted in the _Kilkenny Archæological
Journal_, new series, i. 110, with a contemporary plan of Ballisonan,
but the latter must have been drawn to illustrate the capture of the
place by Jones in September 1648.
[171] Castlehaven's _Memoirs_, pp. 83-86; Cromwell to Lenthall, April
2, 1650, in _Carlyle_. And see Murphy's _Cromwell in Ireland_, chaps.
24 and 25, and Lord Dillon's apologetic letter in _Contemp. Hist._ ii.
373; Clarendon's History, _Ireland_, p. 96.
[172] Articles for surrender, March 27, in Murphy's _Cromwell in
Ireland_, p. 301. All the letters extant are printed by Carlyle, vol.
ii., see especially that of Cromwell to the mayor on March 26. The
_Aphorismical Discovery_, ii. 69, states that the townsmen capitulated
behind the governor's back, and that the garrison were not mentioned in
the capitulation, which shows the untrustworthiness of the writer. And
see Carte's _Life of Ormonde_, ii. 113.
[173] Cromwell's letter of April 2, in _Carlyle_, ii. 48, with the
notes; Grave's and Prim's _Hist. of St. Canice's Cathedral_, pp. 74,
138, 296; Letters of Fleming and Lynch in _Spicilegium Ossoriense_, i.
341, 348; Murphy's _Cromwell in Ireland_, chaps. xxv. and xxvi.
[174] Seven contemporary accounts of this siege, including one from
Bates's _Elenchus_, are printed in _Contemp. Hist._ ii. 408-415. See
Murphy's _Cromwell in Ireland_, chap. xxviii.; Ireton to Cromwell,
July 10, 1651, _Milton State Papers_, p. 72. Cromwell's own account is
wanting, but the notes to letter 132 in Carlyle may be consulted. In
the churchyard of St. Mary's, very near the breach, is a large stone
inscribed NL ET SOCII, and the tradition is that fifty of Cromwell's
soldiers lie beneath.
[175] Authorities as for last paragraph; _Aphorismical Discovery_, p.
616; Dillingham to Sancroft in Cary's _Memorials of the Civil War_,
ii. 217. The articles of surrender are printed in Murphy's _Cromwell
in Ireland_, p. 341, with the date May 18, but the letter in Whitelock
(456) says May 10. Certainty is unattainable, but Cromwell's battery
was probably near the railway station on the slope of Gallows Hill.
Since the above was written I have read the account of this siege in
Rev. W. S. Burke's _Hist. of Clonmel_, 1907, but have not thought it
necessary to alter the text.
[176] Broghill's letter, dated April 16, is printed in Murphy's
_Cromwell in Ireland_, p. 324; Borlase's _Irish Rebellion_, p. 240; the
Brief Chronicle printed in _Contemp. Hist._ iii. 165, says Roche was
'condemned to be shot to death by a council of war'; Cox's _Hibernia
Anglicana_, ii. 16, where the date is erroneously given as May 16.
[177] Cromwell to Hewson, May 22, 1650, in _Carlyle_, Supplement 61; to
John Sadler, December 31, 1649, _ib._ appendix 17. The latter letter
offers Sadler, a master in Chancery in England, 1000_l._ a year as
Chief Justice of Munster. Sadler did not go, but the place was given to
a vigorous law reformer, John Cook the regicide.
[178] Broghill's letter of April 16; Letter among the _Clarendon
MSS._, July 6, o. s., endorsed by Hyde as from 'J. Barn.' (perhaps
Barnewall).; Carte's _Life of Ormonde_, ii.; Gardiner's _Commonwealth_,
i. 153, 168. It is remarkable that in Hill's _Macdonnells of Antrim_
nothing is said about the alleged forgery, though the writer can hardly
have been ignorant of Carte's statement. Cromwell's articles granted to
the Protestants, dated April 26, are printed in _Contemp. Hist._ ii.
393, where the other letters may be found, pp. 401-408, 410, and 411,
and see Supplement 58 to _Carlyle_.