Produced by Al Haines
[Frontispiece: The Earl of Aberdeen, K.T.]
THE VICEROYS OF
IRELAND
THE STORY OF THE LONG LINE OF NOBLEMEN
AND THEIR WIVES WHO HAVE RULED
IRELAND AND IRISH SOCIETY FOR
OVER SEVEN HUNDRED
YEARS
BY
CHARLES O'MAHONY
WITH PHOTOGRAVURE FRONTISPIECE AND THIRTY-TWO OTHER
PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
JOHN LONG, LIMITED
NORRIS STREET, HAYMARKET
MCMXII
TO
MY WIFE
{ix}
PREFACE
This is the first complete history of the viceroys of Ireland, the only
other book on the subject being the late Sir John T. Gilbert's, which
was published in 1864. But as he dealt with the viceroys between 1172
and 1509 only, his book has no claim to completeness. In common with
all writers on Ireland, however, I must express my acknowledgments to
Gilbert. His keen and discerning research work, covering the first two
hundred years of the viceroyalty, has been of the utmost value to me.
Irish affairs appear certain to monopolize public and parliamentary
attention this year, and on this account I think that the history of
the men who have ruled Ireland for nearly seven hundred and fifty years
will be read with interest.
Of the illustrations, that of Lord Aberdeen is from a photograph by M.
Lafayette of Dublin and London, who has also supplied the photographs
of Lady Aberdeen, Lords Dudley, Spencer, Londonderry, Cadogan, and
Crewe, King Edward at the {x} Dublin Exhibition, and those of the
Viceregal Lodge, St. Patrick's Hall, and the Throne Room in Dublin
Castle. All the other illustrations are from photographs of the
originals in the National Portrait Gallery, Dublin.
CHARLES O'MAHONY
LONDON
_June_, 1912
{xi}
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I - - - - - - - - - - - 15
CHAPTER II - - - - - - - - - - - 28
CHAPTER III - - - - - - - - - - - 48
CHAPTER IV - - - - - - - - - - - 62
CHAPTER V - - - - - - - - - - - 71
CHAPTER VI - - - - - - - - - - - 86
CHAPTER VII - - - - - - - - - - - 103
CHAPTER VIII - - - - - - - - - - - 120
CHAPTER IX - - - - - - - - - - - 139
CHAPTER X - - - - - - - - - - - 161
CHAPTER XI - - - - - - - - - - - 173
CHAPTER XII - - - - - - - - - - - 188
CHAPTER XIII - - - - - - - - - - - 201
CHAPTER XIV - - - - - - - - - - - 216
CHAPTER XV - - - - - - - - - - - 229
CHAPTER XVI - - - - - - - - - - - 242
CHAPTER XVII - - - - - - - - - - - 261
CHAPTER XVIII - - - - - - - - - - - 271
CHAPTER XIX - - - - - - - - - - - 289
CHAPTER XX - - - - - - - - - - - 303
CHAPTER XXI - - - - - - - - - - - 313
CHAPTER XXII - - - - - - - - - - - 326
INDEX - - - - - - - - - - - - - 343
{xiii}
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PAGE
THE EARL OF ABERDEEN - - - - - - - - _Frontispiece_
THE VICEREGAL LODGE, DUBLIN - - - - - - - 30
THE THRONE ROOM, DUBLIN CASTLE - - - - - - 42
ST. PATRICK'S HALL, DUBLIN CASTLE - - - - - 54
ROBERT DEVEREUX, EARL OF ESSEX - - - - - - 68
CHARLES BLOUNT, LORD MOUNTJOY - - - - - - 78
THOMAS WENTWORTH, EARL OF STRAFFORD - - - - - 84
JAMES BUTLER, FIRST DUKE OF ORMONDE - - - - - 86
OLIVER CROMWELL - - - - - - - - - - 90
ARTHUR, EARL OF ESSEX - - - - - - - - 100
LORD WHARTON - - - - - - - - - - - 130
JOHN, LORD CARTERET - - - - - - - - - 140
EARL OF CHESTERFIELD - - - - - - - - - 150
EARL OF HARRINGTON - - - - - - - - - 152
MARQUIS TOWNSHEND - - - - - - - - - 176
INSTALLATION BANQUET OF KNIGHTS OF ST. PATRICK - - 188
DUKE OF RUTLAND - - - - - - - - - - 192
EARL OF WESTMORELAND - - - - - - - - - 194
EARL FITZWILLIAM - - - - - - - - - - 200
MARQUIS CAMDEN - - - - - - - - - - 204
MARQUIS CORNWALLIS - - - - - - - - - 210
DUKE OF RICHMOND AND LENNOX - - - - - - - 214
EARL TALBOT - - - - - - - - - - - 218
MARQUIS WELLESLEY - - - - - - - - - 226
LORD MULGRAVE - - - - - - - - - - 240
{xiv}
EARL OF CLARENDON - - - - - - - - - 248
EARL OF EGLINTON AND WINTON - - - - - - - 256
EARL SPENCER - - - - - - - - - - - 280
LORD CREWE - - - - - - - - - - - 306
EARL CADOGAN - - - - - - - - - - - 310
LORD DUDLEY - - - - - - - - - - - 318
KING EDWARD CONVERSING WITH LORD ABERDEEN - - - 334
COUNTESS OF ABERDEEN - - - - - - - - 338
{15}
THE VICEROYS OF IRELAND
CHAPTER I
The conquest of Ireland by Henry II. is one of the myths of history
which Time has endeavoured to crystallize into fact. Rome gave Ireland
to the superstitious, cowardly King of England, but the Pope could not
make Henry a conqueror, and so the invader, coming to claim that which
did not belong to the Pope or to himself, discovered that the native
Irish could defend themselves. Ireland was a land of saints according
to the chroniclers of the time; Henry discovered that it was also a
land of fighters, and the armour and superior weapons of his army were
outmatched by the sturdy patriotism of the Irish, whose weapons and
methods were, doubtless, crude, but whose courage and determination
were inspired by a love of country and intensified by a passion for
independence.
Henry II. landed at Waterford on October 11, 1171, accompanied by a
great army. The conquest of Ireland was to be short, sharp, and
decisive. The natives appeared to know nothing of the fine art of war,
and even Henry must have tasted of courage when he viewed the ill-armed
{16} legions he had to fight. From Waterford he marched to Dublin, but
the result of several battles and skirmishes was an attenuated army and
unexpected defeat. Had it not been for the inevitable Irish traitor,
Henry and his followers would have been swept into the sea, but it is
Ireland's tragedy that she produces almost as many traitors as heroes.
Dermot McMurrough, King of Leinster, anxious to gain the unmistakable
advantages offered by an alliance with the King of England, came to
Henry's aid, and thus the invader was at any rate able to claim the
conquest of the land covered by the feet of his soldiers. Beyond that
his jurisdiction was imaginary. Realizing this, Henry determined to
leave Ireland. His expedition had proved profitless, but he foresaw
possibilities of gain in the future. The first of a long line of
Englishmen who have never known when they were beaten, Henry, with a
statesmanlike disregard for the realities, divided Ireland between ten
of his followers, and, nominating one of them to act as his
representative, sailed from the country on Easter Monday, April 17,
1172. This, in brief, is the story of the conquest of Ireland.
[Sidenote: The first Viceroy]
Henry's representative, and, therefore, generally accepted as the first
Viceroy of Ireland, was Hugh de Lacy, a descendant of one of William
the Conqueror's companions in arms. To De Lacy was committed the care
of Dublin Castle and the command of the English in Ireland. The
viceroy was a small but muscular man, unscrupulous, immoral, and
unsuccessful. Henry gave him 800,000 acres which were not the king's
to give, {17} even in the Dark Ages when right was might. To a person
of De Lacy's qualities the gift was valueless, for he was not the man
to gain and hold the land. Even when Tiarnan O'Ruarc, the original
owner, was treacherously slain, the viceroy found it impossible to
assert his authority over the vast estate.
De Lacy was soon succeeded by another Anglo-Norman baron,
Fitz-Gislebert, who gained Henry's confidence and gratitude by helping
to subdue the rebellious sons of the King of England. Fitz-Gislebert
came from Normandy to Ireland. His viceroyalty was undistinguished,
and he was chiefly occupied in defending himself from the attacks of
the Irish or in vain endeavours to assert his authority as the
representative of the King of England. When he died in 1176 his
widow's brother, Raymond le Gros, acted as viceroy until Henry, having
been acquainted with the decease of Fitz-Gislebert, appointed Guillaume
Fitz-Aldelm de Burgh to the post in 1177. Raymond was not at all
pleased with Henry's choice, but he dissembled sufficiently to receive
the new viceroy at Wexford. Raymond had by now assumed the name and
arms of the Geraldine family by virtue of his descent from an emigrant
of an old Tuscan family, thus forming his kinsmen and followers under
one banner, and becoming the most powerful member of the English colony
in Ireland. Fitz-Aldelm and the Geraldines were never friendly, and it
is not surprising, therefore, that one of the Geraldine chroniclers
should describe the viceroy as 'corpulent, crafty, plausible, {18}
corrupt, addicted to wine and profligate luxuriousness.' The
description, save for the physical details, would, however, apply to
almost every one of the early Viceroys of Ireland. They were for the
most part needy adventurers sent to Ireland to replenish empty purses,
legalized robbers commissioned by the Kings of England, and none the
less thieves because they were not always successful in their mission.
[Sidenote: English defeats]
In 1177 King Henry secured the permission of the Pope to style his son
John, aged twelve, Lord of Ireland, and two years later the viceroy was
recalled, De Lacy returning to Ireland as Governor with a colleague in
the person of Robert de la Poer of Wexford. De Lacy, however,
committed the heinous crime of marrying without the king's permission,
his bride being the daughter of King O'Connor, and he was superseded by
Jean, Constable of Chester, who held the viceroyalty in conjunction
with Richard de Peche, Bishop of Coventry. The ex-viceroy, however,
managed to secure a renewal of the king's favour, and he quickly
returned to Ireland, though for safety's sake Henry gave him a
colleague, the Bishop of Salisbury, who was the monarch's paid spy. De
Lacy pursued his policy unhampered, and very soon became wealthy and
powerful. The king, learning of his representative's arrogance,
decided that it was dangerous to permit a subject to taste too much of
kingly power, and in 1184 he appointed his son, Prince John, now
nineteen years of age, to be the chief governor of Ireland. Fortified
by the Papal sanction, Prince John came {19} to Ireland with a large
and costly army to impress De Lacy and his fellow-barons, and,
incidentally, to subdue the turbulent Irish. An assassin removed De
Lacy from his path, but the natives were stubborn, and the English were
defeated whenever they gave battle. Thereupon John, with his retinue,
indulged in a series of orgies, lost the remnant of his army, and after
eight months returned to England in 1185.
During the succeeding four years De Courcy, a powerful baron, ruled
Dublin in parts and none of the rest of Ireland, but, of course,
maintained the fiction that he was the king's representative, and,
therefore, Viceroy of Ireland. Then followed the first viceroyalty of
Hugh de Lacy, a son of the previous viceroy, and in 1190 Guillaume le
Petil took over the post and occupied it until 1191. After him came in
quick succession Guillaume, Earl Marechal (1191-94), Pierre Pipard
(1194), Hamon de Valognes (1197-99), and Fitz-Henry, whose father was
an illegitimate son of Henry I., whose first term began in 1199 and
ended in 1203. De Valognes, when he retired, had to pay 1,000 marks to
the king's treasury to settle his viceregal accounts. This was not
exceptional. The viceroys of Ireland were given considerable powers,
but they had their responsibilities, and among these was a contract to
supply so much money and soldiers to their royal masters. To satisfy
these contracts, the viceroys, when denied the spoils of battle, had to
rob and plunder, while the viceroy who paid his debts was as rare as
virtue in Dublin Castle.
{20}
Hugh de Lacy returned in 1203, but King John, his fears aroused by the
viceroy's introduction of special coinage, recalled him in 1204, and
for the space of a year Fitz-Henry occupied the viceregal position. In
1205 the king issued instructions for the erection of a new Dublin
Castle. De Lacy, however, had powerful friends, and in 1205 he came
back once more, and ruled the English colony for five years, until King
John landed at Waterford on June 20, 1210, when, of course, the
vice-royalty ceased for the time being. De Lacy, more courageous and
skilful than his father, had carried war into the enemy's camp, and had
done something towards extending the boundaries of England's dominions
beyond the frontiers of Dublin. He instituted a system of taxation
which was very profitable to him and to his royal master, but it
exasperated the Irish to such an extent that they rose in rebellion.
The opposing forces met at Thurles in 1208, and the result was a signal
defeat for De Lacy. The coming of King John, who did not conceal his
distrust of the viceroy, caused De Lacy to concentrate his forces with
a view to impressing the king. Fortune, however, was on the side of
John, and De Lacy fled the country. There are many legends recounting
the adventures of the once powerful nobleman. He and his brother are
said to have laboured as brickmakers and gardeners in Normandy and
Scotland, and suffered many other indignities.
[Sidenote: Papal supremacy]
King John's stay in Ireland was brief, as the critical state of his
kingdom required his presence in England. He left behind him as his
representatives {21} Guillaume, Earl of Salisbury--an illegitimate son
of Henry II. by the fair Rosemond Clifford--and De Grey, Bishop of
Norwich. In 1213 they were succeeded by Henry de Londres, Archbishop
of Dublin, a powerful prelate and an unscrupulous statesman. He was
given the post because of his influence with the Pope, and John's first
task for his new viceroy was to send him to Rome to induce the occupant
of the Papal throne to side with him against the barons. Geoffery de
Marreis, a follower of the Archbishop's, acted as his deputy during his
absence abroad. The deputy robbed friend and foe alike, but eventually
the trades-people of Dublin petitioned the king because De Marreis
would not pay his debts and added insult to injury by compelling the
traders of the city to give him further credit. King Henry III. was on
the throne now, and he ordered his representative to pay all his debts
within forty days. Furthermore, he was placed under the authority of
the Archbishop of Dublin, Henry de Londres, who had helped to make
history by forming one of the barons and ecclesiastics who compelled
King John to sign the Magna Charta. The archbishop was the most
powerful Englishman in the kingdom of Ireland, and, as the
representative of the Pope, took precedence of the representative of
the king. In 1221 he was appointed viceroy, and then ensued the usual
conflict between the civil and religious powers that is inevitable when
churchmen turn politicians. The English colony complained to Henry
that his viceroy was unable to cope with the insurgents, and they
prayed {22} for a more warlike governor. Guillaume Marechal, eldest
son and heir of the first Earl of Pembroke, and afterwards second earl,
was sent to Ireland as viceroy in 1224, but this brother-in-law of the
king's did not find the country to his liking, and he departed in
favour of Geoffery de Marreis, whose third term of office began in 1226
and ended the following year.
This viceroyalty was the first to which a definite salary was given,
the sum of L580 a year being set aside for the use of Geoffery de
Marreis. Richard de Burgh followed De Marreis until, in 1229, Maurice
Fitzgerald assumed the reins of government. Fitzgerald was born in
Ireland, and was the first Anglo-Irishman to become Viceroy of Ireland.
His viceroyalty extended over fifteen years, though at intervals the
government was in the hands of Geoffery de Marreis and Richard de Burgh
for a few months. The viceroy was given a salary of L500 a year, and
unlimited authority to rob the native Irish, and even the English
colony, provided he sent part of the proceeds to London to help to pay
the king's debts and finance wars. But he fell from grace in 1245, and
was dismissed, the reason given being his dilatoriness in bringing
reinforcements to his royal master in Wales. Jean Fitz-Geoffery was
appointed his successor, and during the ensuing ten years the
government was nominally vested in him, minor changes occurring from
time to time. The next viceroy, Alain de la Zouche, reigned for four
years (1255-59), and died as the result of an assault made upon him by
the Earl of Warrene and {23} Surrey in Westminster Hall, while his
successor, Etienne, who had married the widow of the second Hugh de
Lacy, was murdered in 1260.
The next half-dozen viceroys are summed up easily. Guillaume le Dene
(1260-61), Sir Richard de la Rochelle (1261-66), Jean Fitz-Geoffery for
the third time (1266-67), Sir Robert D'Ufford (1268 and 1276-82),
Richard D'Exeter (1269), and Jacques D'Audeley (1270-72). The majority
were adventurers and favourites of the king, and few could claim
possession of the soldier-like qualities which were needed at the time.
Sir Robert D'Ufford was an exception, but he spent most of his time
fighting abroad in the service of the King of England. Maurice
Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, signalized a brief viceroyalty, extending from
1272-73, by marching into the territory of the O'Connors, and promptly
being made a prisoner. The vacancy thus created was filled by Geoffery
de Joinville, who held the post for three years.
[Sidenote: Sir Jean Wogan]
Jean de Saundford, Archbishop of Dublin (1288-90), was one of the
numerous deputies who governed the English colony between 1282 and
1290. These deputies were mainly ecclesiastics, for England's
unsettled state and numerous wars called every leading warrior away
from Ireland. Sir Guillaume de Vesci (1290-93), Guillaume de la Haye
(1293), Guillaume D'Ardingselles (1294), Thomas Fitzmaurice (1294-95)
paved the way for Sir Jean Wogan, who was viceroy for thirteen years,
and who did more to establish the authority of England than any of his
predecessors. When Wogan was appointed the chief source of danger {24}
to the English colonists was the feud between the two great Anglo-Irish
families, the Fitzgeralds and the De Burghs. Wogan, however, succeeded
in bringing them together, and they agreed to a truce. The viceroy was
also fairly successful against the natives, but he made no additions to
the territory over which England nominally held sway. In 1308 Sir
Guillaume de Burgh was appointed to succeed Wogan, but an unexpected
development occurred, and Edward II., urged on by his advisers,
nominated his Gascon favourite, Piers de Gaveston, to the post. This
was virtually an act of banishment, and the gay Gascon regarded it as
such, but for the time he had to accept the post, which was regarded by
the wealthy English barons as tantamount to exile. Ireland was not a
garden of pleasant memories to the English warriors. Not one of them
who had tried his skill in the country had added to his laurels, and,
consequently, the only men who would accept the viceroyalty or any of
the posts attached to the Dublin Castle Government were the "needy
adventurers" who stood to lose nothing and gain something. From time
to time the English colony petitioned the king not to send these 'needy
adventurers,' but there were no others to fill the vacancies that arose.
Piers de Gaveston's case was an exception. Edward II. had advanced him
to the Earldom of Cornwall, and the barons were jealous of him. They
plotted against his life, but the king stood by his favourite, and
eventually both parties {25} compromised by permitting Piers to go to
Ireland. He did not stay in Ireland for more than a few months, for he
hungered for the gay English court, and when he left the country Sir
Jean Wogan renewed his viceroyalty. It was in this year--1309--that
John Lech, Archbishop of Dublin, obtained a Bull from Clement V.
authorizing the establishment of a university in Dublin. The laudable
project, however, was prematurely abandoned owing to the death of the
archbishop. Nearly three hundred years elapsed before Dublin received
its now famous university.
[Sidenote: Edward Bruce crowned]
Sir Edmund le Botiller, or Butler, succeeded Wogan in 1312, and carried
on his policy. He is said to have succeeded in restoring order in the
English colony and its immediate surroundings, but when reappointed in
1315, after a viceroyalty of a few months by Theobaude de Verdun, he
had to cope with the most serious rebellion Ireland had known for two
hundred years. The native Irish had been inspired by the exploits of
King Robert Bruce of Scotland, and they called upon that monarch's
brother, Edward Bruce, to rule over their country and lead them to
victory. Bruce responded with alacrity, and he was crowned King of
Ireland in 1315. Le Botiller collected a large army, and went in
pursuit of the invader and his followers, but the viceroy suffered an
overwhelming defeat, and it seemed as though the last day had come of
English rule in Ireland. The inhabitants of Dublin, who were, of
course, mainly English, became alarmed, but some confidence was
restored at a meeting of the chief {26} nobles, who swore fidelity to
King Edward, and declared that they would forfeit life and lands if
they failed in their duty. The manifesto, signed by ten nobles, was
delivered to Edward at Westminster, and he signified his approval and
gratitude by creating the first of the signatories, Jean Fitz-Thomas,
Earl of Kildare. Fitz-Thomas had been Baron of Offaly. The defeated
and discomfited Le Botiller was superseded in 1317 by Roger de
Mortimer, the paramour of King Edward's queen. Mortimer brought with
him 15,000 men, and while he was pursuing Bruce he appointed the
Archbishops of Cashel and Dublin to act as his deputies at Dublin.
Sunday, October 14, 1318, witnessed the last of Edward Bruce and his
pretensions to the kingdom of Ireland. Outnumbered and out-generalled,
he was defeated and killed at the Battle of Faughard, and in accordance
with the rules of war his head was sent to King Edward. When this
ghastly trophy arrived, Edward was seated at a banquet with the
Ambassadors from King Robert Bruce of Scotland, who had asked and
seemed likely to obtain the province of Ulster for Edward Bruce. The
sight of Bruce's head, however, ended the conference prematurely.
[Sidenote: The first university]
Roger de Mortimer was in 1319 induced to forsake the attractions of the
queen's court for the rigours of Dublin Castle, but in 1320 he was back
again in London, leaving Thomas Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare, to rule in
his stead. Kildare was succeeded by Jean de Bermingham, Earl of Louth,
{27} in 1321; while in the same year Sir Ralph de Gorges and Sir Jean
d'Arcy occupied in turn the viceroyalty. D'Arcy lasted until 1326. It
is worthy of note that in 1320 a university was opened in Dublin, but
it was never more than a seminary for ecclesiastics.
{28}